What is art? That has pledged people for thousands of years in different countries and in different time periods? Today I got asked that question by someone whom I met after the lecture given by Gord Perercon. The girl who asked me the question couldn’t understand that art could just be about expressing an idea.
From the lecture by Perercon he contemplated that mundane furniture is sculpture in there own right. Basically, taking an idea of what designates a table to be a table or a chair a chair. He then warps the chair or the table in a way that demonstrates an idea that may not be understood at first glance. Like he made just a corner of a table. When the viewer looks at it they can’t help but see the table within that small corner piece. He wanted to explore if he omitted parts of a table, what where the bare minimum that isn’t a table but that depicts a table.
Art is complex. I tried to communicate to the girl that the lecture was using a type of way of scientific expression. Yet, although Perercon is someone you can like or dislike, you have to respect his scientific analyses on the psychic of people relating to furniture and that his sculptural pieces with his ideas haven’t been done before. Art is always pushing the bar of what is art. With the Marcel Duchamp’s "Fountain," (which was simply a discarded urinal on which he had scrawled the words "R. MUTT 1917”) created this outpour of creative intent with underlining messages about the world around them through a found object or something that wasn’t realistic or “pretty”. Duchamp knew how to draw realistically but he decided to break the barrier of art by showing a stand on what the world was coming to through art. It was new, and from him and everyone afterwards has tried to use there work to better understand themselves and the world around them through unconditional ways. Almost like the art piece becomes the visual, or sound or some other play on a sense that becomes a representation of their thought process.
I tried to tell her all this but I ended up confusing her and myself more that anything by incorporating art that was naturalistic, classicalism, expressionism, impressionist, dada movement post- modernism and then other countries art, commercial art, design art and all the other movements that relate to art I didn’t know but still affected art today. Some of the movements contradict each other like iconography (where an icon is show to tell something to the viewer) to the dada movement (which rejects all art). Through all my talking and working out what art is, I still couldn’t give an succinct answer.
Yet, that’s the beauty in art we just don’t know what art is so we strive to interpret the world to define art. That’s ok. Art becomes an individual quest by working out making something and what it means and all the other crap like composition and craftsmanship. Then once it’s made the public is connected to that piece of artwork. they find meaning or are just affected by it. This in turn relates to the society: the group of people. Then it relates to their country, than the world, and then even the future. Or something like that. Well give me some feed back.
What do you think art is?
Comments (3)
I believe life is art. I think each individual human being produces art every second of there existence via the choices they make whether they are cognizant of this fact or not. For example, if you were to say "hey man you smell like cheese!" I would be presented with a decision on how to react to the statement. I could fly off at the handle, laugh it off, pry you with questions concerning whether or not its more of a Gouda or swiss smell, etc., but eventually I would react and that choice be it conscious or subconscious is a creation.
A creation that then in turn affects its audience and forces a reaction/creation of their own. You could argue that this idea has nothing to do with sitting down and making a painting, etc., but what is it you are doing when you create a painting or sculpture? You are attempting to engage an audience in some form of discourse. Attempting to convey, or evoke an emotion, a thought, or tell a story etc.
This is the true nature of art, communication.
Thusly I would argue that the act of creating a painting, or otherwise is merely formalizing the intangible element of art.
The difference between people us, and the rest of the world is that we are conscious of what we are doing and they are not. All human being are artists, we are "professional" artists because we formalize these interactions, actively think about our decisions, and quite often dress funny. Not to mention we "pro-artists" are all socially awkward in some manner or another.
Posted by Derek | February 19, 2008 2:36 AM
Posted on February 19, 2008 02:36
But what then can we say about people who don't.. "GET" art? I mean, I'm not saying I can walk into any gallery and immediately understand an abstract painting, sculpture, or anything. But I appreciate a variety of different forms of art, including music. But there are so many people out there who just don't get it. Some who look at the Mona Lisa and just see a girl, and don't see the beauty of piece, the time it took, the paint, etc.
And don't even get me started on people who just choose not to acknowledge art.
I'm just curious what it means if, say, life is art, and art is all around, and all humans are artists... where do all the differences come from? Why do some people refuse to see the art?
Posted by Andrew Burns | February 20, 2008 10:36 PM
Posted on February 20, 2008 22:36
My friend Joe smells like ass. Usually he wears this big coat and when he has it on it manages to trap in odor. However when he takes that thing off, I kid you not, you can smell him from at least five feet away. I like the dude alot but ever since I discovered this I make a conscious effort not to sit near him in class.
Anyways, There's no way he realizes that he smells. Not a chance. Dude would shower if he realized how bad it was.
Now just because he doesn't realize that he smells, doesn't mean he doesn't smell.
Ignorance does not change consequence.
Posted by Derek | February 26, 2008 1:21 AM
Posted on February 26, 2008 01:21