[TheForge] Re: Art, doncha know....

[A Vida]

Mike Spencer wrote:
> George Dixon wrote:
> 
>> You live in historic times.  I am not referring to the issues of
>> climate, war or politics.....I am 'talking art' here.
>>
>>  [snip long rant]
> 
> Good rant, George!  In general, I agree with almost all you say.
> 
> But like most rants, including mine, it has sacrificed accuracy and
> precision for the sake of rhetoric and so in detail, I have to agree
> with almost everything that Ries has said in rebuttal.

	Methinks the problem, if it can even really be called that, is one of 
scope.  I agree with much of George's personal opinions - most of the 
"modern" art I have seen doesn't really appeal to me, but that is pretty 
much where I have to draw a line around myself so I don't start telling 
others what is OK to like and what is not.

	Crappy welds: is it done on purpose or because the craft of the welder 
is poor?  Who knows?  I'm so anal, were I to leave a garbage weld on a 
piece it would drive me nuts until either I fixed it or my head 
exploded.  But what if that weld was precisely intended in the work?  Or 
perhaps the economics of the work precluded prettying up the joinery.

	In the end I don't know if any of this matters.  We all like some 
things and dislike others.  Human culture goes the way it goes.  Some go 
with it and some fight it.

	Can one legitimately impugn another's art?  For one's self, yes.  But 
when opinion takes on the substance of enforced judgment, I mostly have 
a problem with it.  Calls can be tough and the lines are rarely very 
clear.  Someone referenced the art exhibit by that African d00d who had 
the elephant dung on the icons of the christian Mary.  I remember the 
stink and the fuss raised.  The idiot Giuliani was all about it and it 
had to be shut down etc and so on.  Few people took the time to ask 
"what does this mean in the artist's terms?"  As it turned out, elephant 
dung is is considered a sacred thing in his culture and there was no 
desecration intended.  Moral of the story: the masses are asses is spot 
on right.  I watch people jump to unfounded conclusions almost on a 
daily basis.  It's part of being lazy.

	OTOH, what if an artist bought an empty corner lot at Broadway and 
Houston St in Manhattan and raised a giant sculpture of a child molester 
raping a little boy?  Would outcry against such a work be justified? 
Should he be forced to remove it?  Perhaps, but it verily begs the 
question of where does one draw the line?  As I mentioned, art is much 
like religion in that the choices are very personal and methinks it is 
best to live and let live, even if you don't like what you see.