A modest proposal
mdeli
What can be done about museums and critics?
I do not advocate that museums cease exhibiting Modern Academic Art.
However, I do suggest that in fairness to today's polarized extremes
in taste, museums should have two different curators. One for each
side of the art debate. They could then compete by means of the
artwork they each choose to hang and engage in lively debates. People
will then have an opportunity to see the work of both sides of the art
debate and decide what they prefer for themselves. If this were to
happen the censored approach of the last 60 years would end.
Museums could then hang examples of the finest works which are
popular with a large facet of the public. What critics dismiss as
illustration, kitsch and commercial will then reappear in museums.
Only then will our finest illustrators, nature and scientific artists,
cartoonists, animators, comic book artists etc. have an opportunity to
have their original work shown to that audience.
I would also like art reviews to feature the opinions of two critics
who are known to take opposite sides. This would certainly create more
interest than the usual dose of ecstatic Artspeak praise reserved for
any work exhibiting modern academic conformity.
If you wish to see something other than Modern Academic Art in our
major museums, speak out and don't support these institutions.
Any critical forgiveness for a lack of skill and craftsmanship is due to a temporary surrender to fashion.
...no skill no art..
.
Tired of Modern Art? Check out my web page
Andrew D
+A Modest Proposal
+
+What can be done about museums and critics?
+
+I do not advocate that museums cease exhibiting Modern Academic Art.
+However, I do suggest that in fairness to today's polarized extremes
+in taste, museums should have two different curators. One for each
+side of the art debate. They could then compete by means of the
+artwork they each choose to hang and engage in lively debates. People
+will then have an opportunity to see the work of both sides of the art
+debate and decide what they prefer for themselves. If this were to
+happen the censored approach of the last 60 years would end.
Problem is, you'd have to queue to get into the non-abstract exhibits :(
Australia's biggest Art award/sale is held annually in Camberwell,
Victoria. It attracts over 3000 entries of which some 2000 are hung on
display. Over a weekend, more than ten thousand people stand in long
queues waiting to view the exhibition and sales increase each year. Over
$50,000 worth of awards are handed out to painters in a variety of media
and price categories. The exhibition grows in popularity every year.
The Camberwell Rotary Art Award is an entirely realist exhibition.
Despite this, visitors to the West Australian Art Gallery will see three
galleries filled with aboriginal dot paintings and the remainder filled
with abstract work of one form or another. There used to be one large
Heysen painting - over 100 years old - but even that's disappeared.
Occasionally, a lucky visitor will see the small sign pointing to a second
gallery, in a separate building, which houses the works of Australia's
earliest painters. I've spoken to many artists who are completely unaware
this hidden gallery even exists. Most assume the WAAG doesn't have any
realist art at all (in fact, it has a massive collection - it just hides
it).
Prizes in local art awards judged by senior WAAG staff always go to
"abstract" work, regardless of the variety or standard of other work.
Similarly, our major fine arts college actively discourages the pursuit of
"realism". A few acquaintances who've attended have told of lecturers who
will throw a realist piece on the floor and step on it, insisting that
students "explore their creative conscience" - or words to that effect.
Both these establishments are publicly funded and yet it's clear that both
are entirely out of touch with reality and public opinion and have a
one-eyed definition of what constitutes "art".
Andy D.
"I'm a great speller - but a hopless tpyist!"
Noumenon
and (judging by horrible situation you describe) there won't be any in near
decades.
Few years ago I had my paintings within a group sale in Sydney.
They did not sell.
No questions why.
Too much realism in my pictures probably...
(I should've used 3-colour palette and a brush of broom size!)
More than that, remarks/reviews were rather unfavourable (to say the least).
Now, when people talk about ART in Australia it makes me shudder.
Next time I'll confine myself to scuba-diving on the Reef
and forget about "Art" out there.
-= Noumenon =-
Andrew D
ArtE...@NOSPAM.concentric.BLOCK.net wrote:
+No wonder there are no artists from Australia,
+and (judging by horrible situation you describe) there won't be any in near
+decades.
+Few years ago I had my paintings within a group sale in Sydney.
+They did not sell.
+No questions why.
+Too much realism in my pictures probably...
Yeah. I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
media support that are really lacking.
I only paint part time but do pretty well selling in various shows, a
couple of galleries and the occasional group exhibition. I just wish our
major public gallery wasn't so damned one-eyed about what it considers to
be art (Not that I expect to hang there).
+(I should've used 3-colour palette and a brush of broom size!)
+More than that, remarks/reviews were rather unfavourable (to say the least).
+Now, when people talk about ART in Australia it makes me shudder.
From what I've seen, many of our critics have no real idea about realist
art. They lump it all in one camp - and it aint art. I can't work out if
they just love smudged and dribbled paint or if it's more as mani suggests
- that they support selected artists with the right contacts.
+Next time I'll confine myself to scuba-diving on the Reef
+and forget about "Art" out there.
Don't do that - we need people to help change things.
I'm involved with a new group with a plan to put realism back on the
agenda. We'll see how our visitors and sales compare with other
exhibitions.
Lissa
Dan Fox wrote:
> right@the_end.of.my_tether (Andrew D) wrote:
>
> > +Too much realism in my pictures probably...
> >
> > I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
> > is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
> > cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
> > the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
> > Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
> > media support that are really lacking.
>
> Yeah, those educated urban professionals do tend to be 'artzy fartzies.'
> What do they know? - stay in the provinces and sell to honest, god-fearing
> farmers and shopkeepers at outdoor shows. They know what good art is.
Good one Dan. hehe.
Lissa
>
>
> --
> Dan
> www.danfoxart.com
>
> "Art is what the Trust Fund Kids say it is."
--
"You become what you think about most of the time." Ralph Waldo Emerson
mdeli
>right@the_end.of.my_tether (Andrew D) wrote:
>
>> +Too much realism in my pictures probably...
>>
>> I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
>> is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
>> cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
>> the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
>> Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
>> media support that are really lacking.
>
>Yeah, those educated urban professionals do tend to be 'artzy fartzies.'
>What do they know? - stay in the provinces and sell to honest, god-fearing
>farmers and shopkeepers at outdoor shows. They know what good art is.
>
>--
On the other hand you could like Dan Fox become a traveling salesman
and try to get your furniture abstractions into galleries which sell
to richies who never took the trouble to buy better stuff in furniture
stores.
Fox couldn't sell in an outdoor art show because most of the
abstractions there are far better than his.
Leigh
"mdeli" <n...@mail.com> wrote
> >-- >
> Fox couldn't sell in an outdoor art show because most of the
> abstractions there are far better than his.
After assorted Fox bashing by his favorite critic, I took a look to see what
all the knife throwing was about. I find no fault with the work, and
wouldn't comment here if I did. Actually, it was refreshing and non
assuming. A pleasant relief in a world of overworked efforts.
However, I do wonder if you forgot to compress your thumbnails, Dan. I'm on
cable and they took too long to load. Checked the weight of one and it's way
oversized. Your visitors using dial-up probably won't wait around.
L.
mdeli
<mwe...@SPAMBLOCislandnet.com> wrote:
>Well Dan, yur invited to the Saanich Fair. Ther'll be plenty of
>art shown in a barn, lots of framed stuff, a few scenes, lotsa
>pick-chures painted from some real good photographs. While
>yur at it, you can watch the sheep-dog trials, sample some
>prize winning jams, and get yur antiques too.
>
But there won't be any banana peels.
keith o'connor (tinmangallery.com
All the competent artists are dead. There is only today's art - there is
nothing else.
keith
mdeli <n...@mail.com> wrote in message
news:3d19e697...@news1.on.sympatico.ca...
Andrew D
Fox) wrote:
+right@the_end.of.my_tether (Andrew D) wrote:
+
+> +Too much realism in my pictures probably...
+>
+> I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
+> is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
+> cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
+> the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
+> Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
+> media support that are really lacking.
+
+Yeah, those educated urban professionals do tend to be 'artzy fartzies.'
+What do they know? - stay in the provinces and sell to honest, god-fearing
+farmers and shopkeepers at outdoor shows. They know what good art is.
Gee Dan, you really read a lot into "outlying areas" don't you? Where did
I mention farmers or outdoor shows?
And since when did farmers lose their right to interpret what they think
is art anyway?
Andrew D
<ljro...@cadvision.com> wrote:
+Dan Fox wrote:
+
+> right@the_end.of.my_tether (Andrew D) wrote:
+>
+> > +Too much realism in my pictures probably...
+> >
+> > I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
+> > is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
+> > cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
+> > the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
+> > Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
+> > media support that are really lacking.
+>
+> Yeah, those educated urban professionals do tend to be 'artzy fartzies.'
+> What do they know? - stay in the provinces and sell to honest, god-fearing
+> farmers and shopkeepers at outdoor shows. They know what good art is.
+
+Good one Dan. hehe.
Yeah, coz all them there country folk is just inbred yokels and if yerz
don't lives inner big smoke in one o' them fancy apartminks, then yers
must be rilly stoopid or summink.
Geez Lissa, I hopes you lives in one one o' doze fancy schmancy city flats
udderwize, Dan prolly aint exakerly inerested in what you be tinkin. Heck
Lissa, if yers lives in a house inna suburbs den you aint no better dan
doze boot-wearing low lifes dat sits around da fiyah playing dare banjos
and maykin eyes at dare purdy li'l ol'sister.
Hell, evybody nose yous gotto go to a big city unversiky iffen youse wants
to no why spild paynt is reel art and wy youse shud pay lots o munney for
sommink yers kids usen to be gettin in trubble fer doin.
Andrew D
wrote:
+"mdeli" <n...@mail.com> wrote
+> >-- >
+> Fox couldn't sell in an outdoor art show because most of the
+> abstractions there are far better than his.
+
+After assorted Fox bashing by his favorite critic, I took a look to see what
+all the knife throwing was about. I find no fault with the work, and
+wouldn't comment here if I did. Actually, it was refreshing and non
+assuming. A pleasant relief in a world of overworked efforts.
+
+However, I do wonder if you forgot to compress your thumbnails, Dan. I'm on
+cable and they took too long to load. Checked the weight of one and it's way
+oversized. Your visitors using dial-up probably won't wait around.
Some people seem to think a thumbnail is just a big picture forced to
display at smaller dimensions.
In Dan's case, he's displaying a supposed "thumbnail" at 208 x 154 pixels
while the actual image 1147 x 855. So not only does the browser have to
download almost 900K of data for each "thumbnail", it also has to work out
how to compress all this info into an image around 1/30 of its size.
But don't you be picken on Dan - he went to unerversiky you know - so he's
prolly one o doze "educated urban professionals" he torx abouts.
;)
Andrew D
<mwe...@SPAMBLOCislandnet.com> wrote:
+x-no-archive: yes
+
+Dan Fox wrote:
+
+> right@the_end.of.my_tether (Andrew D) wrote:
+>
+> > +Too much realism in my pictures probably...
+> >
+> > I haven't been there but Sydney is probably worse than Perth as it
+> > is our major capital city and attracts more of the "alternative"
+> > cappuccino set than other cities. The best bet for sales is to get into
+> > the outlying areas or smaller private galleries. As I said earlier, the
+> > Camberwell Show proves the public support exists - it's government and
+> > media support that are really lacking.
+>
+> Yeah, those educated urban professionals do tend to be 'artzy fartzies.'
+> What do they know? - stay in the provinces and sell to honest, god-fearing
+> farmers and shopkeepers at outdoor shows. They know what good art is.
+>
+> --
+> Dan
+> www.danfoxart.com
+>
+> "Art is what the Trust Fund Kids say it is."
+
+Well Dan, yur invited to the Saanich Fair. Ther'll be plenty of
+art shown in a barn, lots of framed stuff, a few scenes, lotsa
+pick-chures painted from some real good photographs. While
+yur at it, you can watch the sheep-dog trials, sample some
+prize winning jams, and get yur antiques too.
Aaah, and they wonder why the modern art set are labelled "elitist".
Jim Hall
On 29-Jun-2002, "Leigh" <le...@nomail.com> wrote:
> However, I do wonder if you forgot to compress your thumbnails, Dan. I'm on
> cable and they took too long to load. Checked the weight of one and it's way
> oversized. Your visitors using dial-up probably won't wait around.
The image on his homepage is 318k. Ten times the size that it should be.
My area of expertise is digital art.
--
Jim Hall (hall...@att.net)
Leigh
"Marilyn Welch" <mwe...@xxxislandnet.com> wrote in message
news:3D374C09...@xxxislandnet.com...
> x-no-archive: yes
> I just made some in Paintshop Pro and I don't like the quality of them
> http://www.artadventures.bc.ca/white_project.htm
>
> Thank you.
Marilyn, did your create the web images on this site? What a fantastic
exhibition! Would love to see it for real.
The images are saved as .bmps and that means they are totally uncompressed.
Big and bulky and a big no-no. They should be saved as .jpgs, compressed
down about 25%. The large linked image has good dimentions for detail, the
thumbnails are unnecessarily tiny for my poor eyes. They could be two inches
in height and still come in between 10 and 15 kbs. I use PSP also, have for
a bunch of years and it does a good job for me. They have great online
tutorials, but I'll help where I can. My problem is that I learned all this
stuff on old programs and haven't switched to faster high tech methods.
Could be that Jim Hall has more usuable info.
L.
Otsinekwar Ohkwari
Andrew D
<mwe...@xxxislandnet.com> wrote:
+x-no-archive: yes
+
+Jim Hall wrote:
+
+> On 29-Jun-2002, "Leigh" <le...@nomail.com> wrote:
+>
+> > However, I do wonder if you forgot to compress your thumbnails, Dan. I'm on
+> > cable and they took too long to load. Checked the weight of one and
it's way
+> > oversized. Your visitors using dial-up probably won't wait around.
+>
+> The image on his homepage is 318k. Ten times the size that it should be.
+> My area of expertise is digital art.
+
+Is 31K a good size for a thumbnail? And how do you create thumbnails?
+I just made some in Paintshop Pro and I don't like the quality of them
+http://www.artadventures.bc.ca/white_project.htm
Then you might be using the wrong software or using the software wrong -or
expecting too much from thumbnails. In fact, the file-size of your
thumbnail images is only 4K which is why they load instantly. Make them a
little larger and/or use less compression (better quality) when you save
them as jpegs. Note that the kilobyte size dsiplayed in PS-pro is the size
of the expanded file (jpegs expand when you open them) not the file-size
(or disk-size). For faster website loading, it's the file-size that
matters.
Your thumbnail "thumwp1.jpg" has a 4k file-size on my computer (it will
differ for other people) and opens up as only a 15K image so you certainly
have room for improvement.
But you just can't display a 600x400pixel image in a 60x40 space and
expect it to look the same. The reality is that if you squash a 300K image
into a small space, as Dan does on his site, the browser has to load all
the image data then throw most of it away so it's a complete waste of time
and bandwidth and you are at the mercy of the browser determining how your
thumbnail will look - if people bother waiting.
Often it's worth boosting the contrast or sharpness a little on your
thumbnails to give them a little more clarity. If PS-Pro lets you do that,
then try it.
Gladys Canby
says...
>Is 31K a good size for a thumbnail? And how do you create thumbnails?
>I just made some in Paintshop Pro and I don't like the quality of them
Depends on the actual displayed size of
the thumbnail, so it's hard to say "NO."
But keep reading...
Here's the way I do it. My starting photos may
be several mbs. I use Photoshop for downsizing,
but Paintshop Pro should do a credible job.
The following assumes jpeg formatting for the
image you're dealing with. If it's not in jpg
format, then you'll have to first save it as
a jpg image.
To begin, I reset the resolution at no larger than
75pixels since that's the max most
monitors can display. There is a dramatic
reduction in file size between, say, 300pixels
and 75pixels. Then I reset the actual image
size to no larger than 480pixels in the longest
direction, since that's a fair size for the
most common monitors - 15 and 17 inchers.
Now I rename my image and save it as a new
image file. With photoshop I get a popup
dialogue box that allows me to adjust the
amount of detail saved to jpg - I choose the
"Medium" setting. This changes the file size
from whatever it was to something less than.
Once saved, I have an image file that is in
the 35-50kb range. This file size will vary
depending on how much manipulation you
subjected the image to, and other factors
to complex to worry about here.
Now, I do another resizing of the image so
that the max dimension is changed from 480pixels
to 150 (or less). With Photoshop I can then
apply a "sharpen filter" to the image before
again saving it. This time when the dialogue
box pops up I add a capital "T" to the file
name to designate to me that it is a "T"humbnail,
and I save it at the "Minimum" detail setting.
Now I have a file that is in the 10-15kb range.
Here is an example:
picture.jpg file size = 45kb
pictureT.jpg file size = 12kb
Gladys Canby
>Is 31K a good size for a thumbnail? And how do you create thumbnails?
>I just made some in Paintshop Pro and I don't like the quality of them
Depends on the actual displayed size of
Gladys Canby
says...
>I thought they were jpg as I saved them from
>the email in that format. I guess I should have
>converted them in PSP.
Someone else told you they were bitmapped.
I saw only jpg on your site. In my description
of "how I do it" I just made sure to include
the instruction presumes you're using jpg files,
and if you're not, then you should convert the
images to jpg. But as far as I could see you
already had done that.
>Is it better to compress by pixels or by percentage?
It doesn't matter as long as you know what the
size is that they will display at on a monitor.
Either way accomplishes the same thing. I used
the pixels comparison so anyone reading what
I wrote would have an absolute number rather than
a percentage.
>I think Photoshop is better than PSP.
It's the old rule of law that "you gets what
youse pays for." Photoshop is NOT cheap!
And I bought mine when I could still get a
faculty discount. If you know a student or
teacher, ask them to buy it for you since
they can qualify for the "educational/institutional
discount."
>Will try again today to do some tweaking.
>Thanks for all your help.
After all the rigamarole, I have to say that I
found the pages to load fast enough and I still am
hooked to a slow telephone line.
keith o'connor (tinmangallery.com
images through a processor that allows you to view the image at various
compressions so you can decide on an acceptable visual quality compared to
file size.
keith
Marilyn Welch <mwe...@xxxislandnet.com> wrote in message
news:3D382F09...@xxxislandnet.com...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Gladys Canby wrote:
>
> > In article <ujesqle...@corp.supernews.com>, le...@nomail.com says...
> >
> > >Is 31K a good size for a thumbnail? And how do you create thumbnails?
> > >I just made some in Paintshop Pro and I don't like the quality of them
> >
> > Depends on the actual displayed size of
> > the thumbnail, so it's hard to say "NO."
> > But keep reading...
> >
> > Here's the way I do it. My starting photos may
> > be several mbs. I use Photoshop for downsizing,
> > but Paintshop Pro should do a credible job.
> > The following assumes jpeg formatting for the
> > image you're dealing with. If it's not in jpg
> > format, then you'll have to first save it as
> > a jpg image.
> >
>
> I thought they were jpg as I saved them from
> the email in that format. I guess I should have
> converted them in PSP.
>
> >
> > To begin, I reset the resolution at no larger than
> > 75pixels since that's the max most
> > monitors can display. There is a dramatic
> > reduction in file size between, say, 300pixels
> > and 75pixels. Then I reset the actual image
> > size to no larger than 480pixels in the longest
> > direction, since that's a fair size for the
> > most common monitors - 15 and 17 inchers.
>
> Is it better to compress by pixels or by percentage?
>
> >
> >
> > Now I rename my image and save it as a new
> > image file. With photoshop I get a popup
> > dialogue box that allows me to adjust the
> > amount of detail saved to jpg - I choose the
> > "Medium" setting. This changes the file size
> > from whatever it was to something less than.
>
> I think Photoshop is better than PSP.
>
> >
> > Once saved, I have an image file that is in
> > the 35-50kb range. This file size will vary
> > depending on how much manipulation you
> > subjected the image to, and other factors
> > to complex to worry about here.
> >
> > Now, I do another resizing of the image so
> > that the max dimension is changed from 480pixels
> > to 150 (or less). With Photoshop I can then
> > apply a "sharpen filter" to the image before
> > again saving it. This time when the dialogue
> > box pops up I add a capital "T" to the file
> > name to designate to me that it is a "T"humbnail,
> > and I save it at the "Minimum" detail setting.
> > Now I have a file that is in the 10-15kb range.
> >
> > Here is an example:
> >
> > picture.jpg file size = 45kb
> > pictureT.jpg file size = 12kb
>
> Will try again today to do some tweaking.
> Thanks for all your help.
>
> Marilyn
>
Nerd Gerl
I use and recommend this:
http://www.irfanview.com
IrfanView is a compact, easy to use image viewer. More than that, you can also
edit images directly in IrfanView, to produce a variety of effects. IrfanView
was created by Irfan Skiljan.
This software is smaller and faster than all those other programs brought up
here.
???
==========
Naked Angel Art: http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl
See In Person @ MatrixArts Space | Sacramento, CA
Biz Opp: http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/affiliate.htm