A response to “Oops I arted”

Y’all may be starting to see why I hang around with Andy — he makes me think.

It seems to me that Art, like philosophy and many other disciplines, is an ongoing conversation.  In philosophy, one philosopher makes an argument and others respond.  The first philosopher reads, contemplates and makes another argument.

Art is similar, I think it’s a conversation between the artist and the viewer.  The artist has a vision of the world, they communicate that vision and (ideally, I suppose) invites responses.  Those responses are incorporated into the next work and so on.

I suppose this permits me to draw what debaters  love to call a “bright line” between “art” and “not art” — for me, a piece of art invokes a response.  It makes me think about the worldview of the artist and shows me how the artist sees the world or themselves in the world. The worldview doesn’t have to match mine, and often enough I find the worldview sad or distorted, but even sad or depressing conversations are conversations.

I do think there must be an element of thoughtful creativity in order for something to be considered art.  If my cat sits on a piano and it turns out to spark a conversation, I can’t say that she created art.  If someone accidentally spills paint on a canvas and it sparks a conversation about the aesthetics of the spill, I can’t say that it’s art.  If I accidentally spill the right proportions into a pan and it tastes good, it isn’t art.  In short, the person creating the work needs to intend to communicate something to the recipient.

In terms of who is an “artist”, I suppose it’s the case that I may consider someone an artist who doesn’t see themselves that way.  They may “just” take photos, play music or cook good stuff — but, if their work is intended to prompt a conversation about the experience and share their view of the world with me, it seems to be close enough for me to call it art.

Edited to add:  As I was typing this, Andy was making me a turkey sandwich.  It was a work of art — although he’s not a sandwich artist .

Opps I arted!

What brought on this conversation was a hmmmmmm……….design, that looked like a poorly executed piece of blank notebook paper displayed proudly on the wall at the Minneapolis Art Institute.

It bothers me that some goof-nick scratched his or her chin hairs and postulated the obvious fact that this was art. Secondly, that at least one person who should have known better agreed.

I take issue with the arrogance of the term and boastful nature of the” Arteest”

As some of you may have noticed, I have posted photographs, music and culinary offerings:

I hope my pictures make someone feel like they are there.  I hope a picture I’ve taken is meaningful to a relative or friend. I hope I am able to communicate humor or another message, but art it is not.

I make pretty good grub as anyone twenty years in the food biz should…………but it is not art.

If my music can be heard as decent imitation, I’m happy, but it is not art.

The Navajo who make beautiful pottery and textiles always include an intentional imperfection because to try to make something perfect is an affront to their way. They also made those things for a reason………..to keep comfortable or store things.

I do not and will not sign anything art-ish that I do for the same reason. After all, I just took a picture of the trees, I didn’t create the trees. The credit for something beautiful usually belongs to something bigger that needs no thanks or appreciation.

So why do it?

I do art-ish things for the same reason another person goes for a bike ride, or a canoe trip. Maybe even making a quilt or needle point. It’s recreation (re-creation) through self expression.

My definition is: Channeling all relative skill and experience with the goal of creating something remarkable.

Also there has to be a certain honesty of the heart……………….in other words, only you can know your intention.  Have you paid your dues?  Have you done the best you can?  Have  you experienced something personally rewarding in the creation?

Or have you splattered enough paint and copied enough soup cans to earn a fat check?

Thoughts on “Art”

Andy and I have been having a discussion about the definition of “Art”.  One of my favorite things about Andy is that he’s thoughtful and articulate about expressing his opinions on things.

We agreed that “Frank” was art — the skill, creativity and vision to create a huge portrait is art…

Title:Frank
Artist:Chuck Close
Date:1969
Medium:Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:108 x 84 x 3 in. (274.3 x 213.4 x 7.6 cm)
Creation Place:North America, United States
Credit Line:The John R. Van Derlip Fund
Image Copyright:© Chuck Close, courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
Accession Number:69.137
Location:G373

Title:I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art
Artist:John Baldessari
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada
Date:1971
Medium:Lithograph
Dimensions:22 1/2 x 30 1/8 in. (57.15 x 76.52 cm) (image, sheet)
Creation Place:North America, United States
Credit Line:The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund
Image Copyright:©John Baldessari
Accession Number:P.72.2
Location:Not on view

On the other hand, I suspect that Andy would call this “not art” –  I tend to agree, although I think that the intention and vision part of art is more important than the skill needed to execute the work.

		Judith Visker Jared’s Rap  Gallery Location: Column 109

I think this is art, and I think it probably belongs in the category of “art I don’t necessarily care for, but it’s still art: — and I  I like  this better:

Which needs to be credited to a 7 year old at a birthday party…

I also think the above is probably better art than this:

Title:Untitled
Artist:George Morrison
Date:1959
Medium:Tempera
Dimensions:17 x 22 3/8 in. (43.18 x 56.83 cm) (image, sheet)
Creation Place:North America, United States
Credit Line:Anonymous gift of funds and gift of funds from the Print and Drawing Counci…
Accession Number:95.59
Location:Not on view

Our conversation also included a tangent about food being art, which will have to wait for another day.  I will say that having been to Vietnamese New Year today, I am pretty firm in my opinion that food can be art.