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IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE…?
So, you think you can tell? What is art and what is not?
Does the rosewood-framed Masters degree on your bathroom wall, next to your toilet, lend credence to your critical appreciation?
And who are you anyway? And why does your bloody opinion matter?
Remember the artist, years ago, who immersed a crucifix in a bottle of urine. He called that art. Well… so….did he use that as a marketing tool to project himself? Or was he a man of faith, who believed in his abilities and talent? Was he for real?
And who’s to tell… and how….. and what is real and what is not?
And the Roman Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate turned to Jesus of Nazareth and asked, “What Is Truth?” The Nazarene refused to answer. The question is still hanging out there, crucified in eternity. What Is Truth? Do you know?
Pilate of course washed his hands and kicked the question into the cosmic mother computer, and there it remains. Someday, somebody will crack the genetic code on that one.
Religion and politics, these days it leads to political incorrectness, and wars, so let’s play with color.
A tiny transcendental motif in the middle of a small bare canvas. An abstract jigsaw puzzle. Meditate on the center until you reach Nirvana. A respected art critic called it “A sublime manifestation of the complexity of eternity.” Do not ask what that means. Just nod knowingly. Everybody does that. Nobody gets shanked.
Clever words sound nice. And the vintage wine and aged cheese gallery, fanning themselves with their Oxford degrees in Fine Art go… “Ahaaaaaa…..now we get it.”
Can Deepak Chopra, endowed with the supreme marketing wisdom of three wise merchants from the East, recognize the sound of One Hand Clapping, if he seen it sketched on a soiled napkin in a Head Shop in The Village? I don’t think so.
Better ask Bob Dylan. Dial 1800- ASK.THOMAS
Just what is art? Is there anything that is real art?
I don’t know.
And: Who Is John Galt Anyway?
You do not need to understand art.
The tiny transcendental motif on the small bare canvas.
It’s the economy, stupid. The poor artist did not have the money to buy a larger canvas and more paint.
AndwhoamIandwhatamIhereforandwhatismymissionandmypurposeinlife?
And does life imitate art? Or does art imitate life?
The sixties are gone, man. And if you remember it, you were not there anyway! So… You can find a painting titled ‘Flower Power’ hanging in the morgue at Woodstock, painted by a hippie couple called Peace and Love. They died August 1969. Three days after they passed, Max Yasgur buried them on his farm.That was the end of Peace and Love.
An art critic said the painting by the hippie couple looked like Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, gone insane.
Don’t know what that means! Wonder how much it will sell for in a flea market?
Do you know John Galt?
Does he matter?
Theatre of the Absurd. The artist who killed himself in the gutters of Paris. That was his final canvas, a deadly testimony to his genius. His last finished work. In his left hand, the dead man clutched a large brush. A child noticed that the tip of the brush was sparkling with drops of crimson.
“Yea, We All Need, Someone, We Can Bleed On.” Now who on earth said that?
An art critic in Paris, who worked for INTERPOL on the side, said the dead man had shared an aperitif with John Galt before he mutilated and killed himself. A crowd surrounded the dead man, talking about decomposition, and use of the color red, line and texture, and what it all really meant in the broader scheme of things, the pain of creating…. the latest fashions, what they were going to eat that night, and who was doing what to who and how many times!
A man slapped his wife when she casually stated — that this was NOT ART.
Someone suggested that they hang the bleeding artist in the Louvre.
You know who that someone was, don’t you? You know why, don’t you?
You want to see ART—– Come to Monroe Center
Comment by Chantal Gibbons
Posted on June 21, 2007 at 10:29 am
You are right and you are wrong at the same time. People who study art are better equipped to tell what is good and what is bad art. Yes, the Masters degree in Art does help even if you may think otherwise. True, the appreciation of art is a gut level feeling but the understanding of art is an intellectual one, something that seems to elude you.
What is truth? I don’t know. What is art, I know. My gut and my Masters degree help me better appreciate real art, which I must admit is subjective. And yes, my opinion matters, first to me, and then to others, who somehow do not have the gut or intellect that is slanted toward Fine Art. There is nothing wrong with an intellectual assessment.
And by the way: Yes we all need someone we can bleed on. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones from the album, ‘Get Yer Ya Yaas Out Of Here’. I love that song. See, my appreciation of the song is at gut level and the knowledge of who wrote it, which album, ect. ect. is intellectual, it adds to it all. Intellectual does not only mean reading a million books and spouting passages from Homer. There are many levels of being an intellectual. So don’t knock those degrees. It’s knowledge. And that helps. I know.
By the way, I know John Galt!
Comment by Zac Donohue
Posted on June 21, 2007 at 11:05 am
This blog made me laugh. Yes, there are many pseudo intellectuals out there especially in the art world. I have heard the most outlandish philosophical explainations on art and artists from these people. It is all grabage in intellectual wrapping. They cover what they don’t know with clever conversation. Names of painters are dropped, painting styles are compared, expert opinions are quoted and misquoted, mixed with personal gems of pseudo wisdom. They sniff their wine, nibble the cheese and talk of how an artist has to suffer the experience of degrading poverty in order to be a real painter. Look at Vincent, they say. The real pseudo ones say “Vincent” like he was a close relative. It makes me cringe. Specially the critics with the exaggerated hand movements, mobile eye brows and pursed lips. The ones who consider it a kind of sacred duty to spread their knowledge of art around. The ones who quote passages from the books of James Joyce and who, after they finish the quote, give you a look that says, ‘Don’t tell me you have not read Joyce!’ I hate these people. If you disagree with them they think you are an uncultured idiot.What a hoot.
Art is great. What you like, I may dislike. But that is alright. What I consider art, you may consider fish wrapping paper, but that is alright. Just because Picasso or Dali have painted something, that does not mean, I have to like it, and that does not mean that the work of art is great.
Let me give you an example. I once visited the home of Ernest Hemmingway in Key West, Florida. Now in that house, which is open to the public, is a ceramic cat done by Pablo Picasso. Hemmingway liked cats, so I guess his friend Picasso did this ceramic cat job for him. It is ugly, there is nothing about this “work of art'’ that is great, at least I could not see anything. Now, just because it was done by Picasso means nothing to me. I have seen better ceramic cats at Wal Mart. There was one of these so called art critic types explaining to a bunch of people gathered around this cat, the artistic wonders of the feline. He was using words that flew over my brain. He did sound very clever and convincing. I looked hard at this cat, I could not, for the life of me discover what he was talking about. People were nodding their heads like they understood every word this guru was saying. That cat was not only ugly, it had no distinguishing artistic features at all.
There is a public urinal that lies in the garden of this great author. Hemmingway found it somewhere in Key West. This urinal has more art to it than Picasso’s cat. If you go to Hemmingway’s home in Key West, take a look at this urinal. Then go in and take a look at that cat. Judge for yourself. I love the work of Picasso. I just wanted to make a point here.
Comment by Vanrijngo
Posted on June 21, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Is There Anybody Out There? And who are you anyway? And why does your bloody opinion matter? These have been my questions for many years now, when it come to art, and the people who are making all these decisions on the Web
Well,to answer these questions, the absolute best that I can do, myself, I’d say that there are very few people out there, willing to get involved, when it pertains to the truth.
Concerning the realities of art, it is about the truth, but what most people have to look at, listen to, and read, is far from it.
Let’s take three subjects. Politics, religion and art, roll them all together, into a conglomerate,which could be talked about differently in one’s mind. People tend to believe what is being said by the critics, art connoisseurs, and MFA experts, and not to leave out the experts in other fields. Naturally, if you don’t like what is being said, in some, or should I say, most cases, you just subject them to moderation and deletion, for being inappropriate.
Comment by Oscar Reyes Jr.
Posted on July 30, 2007 at 11:13 am
I am an artist and I know that there are people who have a distinctive disdain for art critics. many artists view critics as a dog would view a fire hydrant. Now is that fair? Well, critics do have their uses, sometimes. Can a good critic tell a great work of art from a bad imitation. I am sure some of them can. Of course, in the end, time and time only, will be able to tell, if a work of art is great. If a work of art stands the test of time, then of course it is great. Time is the greatest critic. There have been many artists through the centuries, who have died in poverty because they could not sell their work. At that time, both critics and the population at large, thought that the paintings were rubbish, but time is a great sorter of sorts, it sifts the diamonds from the coal. So in the end, the critics really do not matter, at least for an artist.
Again there are people who go by what high profile critics say. If a critic from The New York Times, says that a painting is great, then folk tend to believe that; because the newspaper has a solid reputation. Again there are people who buy works of art as investments. They buy and sell art, like any other product that has potential profit. As an artist, I think this is disgusting, but again they pay good money. Would I refuse to sell my work to an art investor, I think not. I mean, I need the money. So….. It is easy to talk principals and ethics but when an artist is starving, a sale is a life saver. So in the end, it is time and time only that can tell. And that is the reason why so many artists all over the world, who do not sell much of their work, still paint. An artist, has to paint and believe that what he or she is doing is good. That is all that matters. The rest is up to time.
Comment by Carmella
Posted on August 6, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Back in June, Godfrey asked a few questions, two of which I’d like to address now.
He questioned if anyone really knows what “truth” is as well as what “art” is?
Both can be answered with the same word: Perception.
As individuals, each of us have formed an opinion on a personal style, favorite belief, tradition, etc., regarding most things in life. Staring at the same piece of art, while observing the effect it has on your inner feelings (or lack there of), can be considered trash in one person’s opinion and a masterpiece to another. This also holds true when observing any situation, should it be deemed honest, sincere and accurate…or common crap.
It’s all so very “personal”……