What Is Art

xoxoxoBruce · 04-07-2010, 04:46 PM

Cinemafia was interviewing Coop, an LA artist, and asked this question...

Quote:

cinemafia: For the kind of art that's more user-friendly, let's just call it cute art, what separates that from craft? I mean, is it still art if it's not pushing any boundaries, not making people uncomfortable

What the fuck is that about? If you're not "pushing boundaries" and/or making people "uncomfortable", it's only craft and not art? I'm having a hard to buying that concept. Granted there are different levels of capability (and that's super subjective), but to discredit someone being an artist because they aren't "pushing boundaries"/"making people uncomfortable", is bullshit.

monster · 04-07-2010, 04:56 PM

I've come to the conclusion that if there's public money being spent on it, it's crap thrown together by someone the council owes a favor to. This makes many people uncomfortable, and they are inclined to call it art for want of a better word that won't upset big brother.

Cloud · 04-07-2010, 05:08 PM

art v. craft is an old and contentious debate, and one that I'm pretty interested in. I think "pushing boundaries" is a worthless criterion for the distinction though.

Urbane Guerrilla · 04-07-2010, 05:10 PM

Art is self-expression without compromise. The less the compromise, the greater the art: Michaelangelo didn't quit when he'd only mostly chipped and polished away all the bits that didn't look like David. Auguste Rodin got away with his rough mode of sculpture through his powerful sense of motion and action in his figures.

Art goes beyond the merely necessary, and into the beautiful.

A good deal of "modern art" isn't very artistic at all. Too often it's because some dope forgot art should be beautiful. And impressive doesn't hurt either. If it doesn't evoke some emotional response, it isn't going to amount to much, nohow. At the least, one should ask oneself, "Was I happy I looked?"

The alleged artist that claims that is not necessary to art is full of something that isn't art. But may rhyme with it.

jinx · 04-07-2010, 05:11 PM

I think that with enough skill, craft becomes art. But I just pulled that out of my ass...

Urbane Guerrilla · 04-07-2010, 05:16 PM

Still you may have something there, Jinx. Too, craft is what happens when "art" lands on "object."

xoxoxoBruce · 04-07-2010, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

The alleged artist that claims that is not necessary to art is full of something that isn't art. But may rhyme with it.

To be fair, the guy asking the question, writes a photography blog. I don't know if he claims to be an artist, but seems to think he knows about art.

DanaC · 04-07-2010, 06:00 PM

Personally, I think of 'craft' as the process of making objects. Art is a form of expression, rather than of manufacture. The two can meet and overlap though.

xoxoxoBruce · 04-07-2010, 06:03 PM

Sure, monster's ceramics would probably fall in the craft category until after the first firing, then art when she gets into coloring them, for example.

DanaC · 04-07-2010, 06:09 PM

Yes. I'd go with that.

I think purpose is important as well. Quilts are another interesting grey area in that sense. A quilt is an object with a material purpose. But the making of them has been elevated through history, tradition, then the reinvention of that tradition, to the point where the purpose of the quilt is no longer practical, but in many cases entirely expressive and designed to provoke an emotional or contemplative response.

monster · 04-07-2010, 06:14 PM

So no picture in black and white is art?

xoxoxoBruce · 04-07-2010, 06:16 PM

At the price they want for some of those quilts, I wouldn't want to be getting any bodily fluids, or animals, on them.

DanaC · 04-07-2010, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

So no picture in black and white is art?

Don't understand what you mean, Monnie.

[eta] Oh hang on, yes I do. I don;t think the important thing there was the fact that you were colouring the pots, so much as making them into individual expressions. A 'pot' is a fairly generic and practical thing. But if the pot is effectively another canvass, it becomes an example of artistic expression.

xoxoxoBruce · 04-07-2010, 06:20 PM

I think she's referring to my saying she colored the ceramics.

edit - Yeah, you got it.

glatt · 04-07-2010, 06:36 PM

If an art museum will exhibit it, it's art. Even if it's not.

Nick Schade built a beautiful wooden kayak that's on display at the New York Museum of Modern Art. It's a very pretty boat, in my opinion, but not art.

Same with a Sam Maloof chair in the Renwick.

04-07-2010, 04:56 PM	#2
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	I've come to the conclusion that if there's public money being spent on it, it's crap thrown together by someone the council owes a favor to. This makes many people uncomfortable, and they are inclined to call it art for want of a better word that won't upset big brother. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

04-07-2010, 05:08 PM	#3
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	art v. craft is an old and contentious debate, and one that I'm pretty interested in. I think "pushing boundaries" is a worthless criterion for the distinction though. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

04-07-2010, 05:10 PM	#4
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	Art is self-expression without compromise. The less the compromise, the greater the art: Michaelangelo didn't quit when he'd only mostly chipped and polished away all the bits that didn't look like David. Auguste Rodin got away with his rough mode of sculpture through his powerful sense of motion and action in his figures. Art goes beyond the merely necessary, and into the beautiful. A good deal of "modern art" isn't very artistic at all. Too often it's because some dope forgot art should be beautiful. And impressive doesn't hurt either. If it doesn't evoke some emotional response, it isn't going to amount to much, nohow. At the least, one should ask oneself, "Was I happy I looked?" The alleged artist that claims that is not necessary to art is full of something that isn't art. But may rhyme with it. __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

04-07-2010, 05:11 PM	#5
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	I think that with enough skill, craft becomes art. But I just pulled that out of my ass... __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

04-07-2010, 05:16 PM	#6
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	Still you may have something there, Jinx. Too, craft is what happens when "art" lands on "object." __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

04-07-2010, 06:03 PM	#9
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Sure, monster's ceramics would probably fall in the craft category until after the first firing, then art when she gets into coloring them, for example. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

04-07-2010, 06:14 PM	#11
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	So no picture in black and white is art? __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

04-07-2010, 06:16 PM	#12
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	At the price they want for some of those quilts, I wouldn't want to be getting any bodily fluids, or animals, on them. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

04-07-2010, 06:20 PM	#14
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	I think she's referring to my saying she colored the ceramics. edit - Yeah, you got it. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

04-07-2010, 06:36 PM	#15
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	If an art museum will exhibit it, it's art. Even if it's not. Nick Schade built a beautiful wooden kayak that's on display at the New York Museum of Modern Art. It's a very pretty boat, in my opinion, but not art. Same with a Sam Maloof chair in the Renwick.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)