OT: Modern art - "Conceptual bullshit"
JPG
does not think a lot of it, that's for sure.
The term "bullshit" brings to mind the postmodernism thread now
current on this ng.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,823019,00.html
Bottom marks for Turner prize as culture minister vents his spleen
Nicholas Watt, political correspondent
Thursday October 31, 2002
The Guardian
The blunt language may lack the erudition of Britain's finest art
critics, but the review wins full marks for stridency.
Kim Howells, the outspoken culture minister, has condemned the four
entries shortlisted for this year's Turner prize as "conceptual
bullshit".
Angered by the standards of this year's contenders, which include a
grunt-by-grunt transcription of an American porn film, Mr Howells has
pegged an expletive-laden comment card to the wall at Tate Britain
where the Turner exhibition is being held.
Mr Howells, who is better known as a Labour heart throb at
Westminster, vented his spleen when he wrote: "If this is the best
British artists can produce then British art is lost. It is cold,
mechanical, conceptual bullshit."
Signing the card Kim Howells, he then came back for more when he added
a postscript. "The attempts at contextualisation are particularly
pathetic and symptomatic of a lack of conviction."
A fan of Lucian Freud and Jackson Pollock, Mr Howells erupted after
the Turner judges lived up to their reputation by shortlisting four
artists whose work was dubbed by yesterday's Guardian as "stomach
churning". Fiona Banner, 37, from Merseyside, created Arsewoman in
Wonderland by transcribing a porn film onto a billboard which also
includes her sex fantasies.
Catherine Yass, 39, from London submitted a film in which retching in
the dark can be heard in the first two minutes. Yass buzzed BBC
Broadcasting House in London with a camera attached to a toy
helicopter for her film.
Liam Gillick, 39, from Aylesbury, has covered a ceiling with brightly
coloured Perspex squares. Keith Tyson, 33, from Cumbria, takes a more
conventional route. He has produced a fantasy remodelling of the front
page of The Times.
Critics are likely to dismiss Mr Howell's outburst as the
unsophisticated ramblings of an amateur. But he remained unrepentant,
telling the Financial Times: "If this is the best that the British art
establishment can come up with, God help us. It consists entirely of
conceptual bullshit and the final insult was to walk through a room of
Francis Bacons and Henry Moores that exude artistic ability and
humanity."
His remarks will revive the debate about the £20,000 Turner prize,
which infuriates traditionalists. Past works have included Tracey
Emin's soiled bed and Damien Hirst's pickled cows.
Mr Howell, a popular figure on the Labour benches who is one of the
few ministers to speak his mind, has raised eyebrows in the past. He
described the royal family last year as "all a bit bonkers" and had to
apologise after saying in a Commons debate that "the idea of listening
to three Somerset folk singers sounds like hell".
Downing Street is unlikely to be alarmed at Mr Howells' decision to
pick a fight with the Turner judges, although there may be unease at
his language. Labour MPs will laugh at his outburst which will raise
the profile of the Pontypridd MP who has languished in the junior
ministerial ranks for five years despite having one of the sharpest
minds in the Welsh Labour party.
_____________________________________________________
"So the universe is not quite as you thought it was.
You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because
you certainly can't rearrange the universe."
- Isaac Asimov
quibbler
> Well, what do we all think of modern art? A British culture minister
> does not think a lot of it, that's for sure.
is not said to dislike all modern art, but just some of the present
entries in one particular contest. In fact it says he likes certain
modern art by people like Pollack.
JPG
Agreed.
I'm not averse to modern art at all. If it generates this much interest, it has
already succeeded.
JPG
quibbler
pi...@the.gates.of.dawn says...
Howells forgot that many earlier modern artists were also criticized in
their day.
Walking on Glass
Reminds me of one of the early surrealist/dada exhibitions where the
organisers left hatchets by the entrance for the visitors to leave their
impressions...
--
Walking on Glass (remove NOSPAM to email me)
AA #2053 Zymurgist #12
"If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or
you can inoculate...Try science"
Carl Sagan - "The Demon-Haunted World"