Comments on: More Art

By: Bernie

Bernie — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:46:28 +0000

Mike:
You are probably correct but the identity leaves us with a superfuous term, i.e., Art.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:46:25 +0000

Mike:
You are probably correct but the identity leaves us with a superfuous term, i.e., Art.

By: joy

joy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:46:32 +0000

Mike, beautifully put. Beauty never went away though. The idea that the boundaries cannot be defined leaves the way open to cunning ways such as shock tactics to be used to arrest the gaze of the onlooker and so adding further credibility to it’s aclaimed artistic merit. Monet, Constable, Angelo didn’t need to preach deeper meaning behind their work, it clearly speaks for itself. The merit is either there or it’s not. There will always, however be people who look for beauty in the most unlikely places. It takes all sorts…Let’s hope you’re right about the pooh pooh moo.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:04:22 +0000

A better question would be: what form of expression is NOT art?

By: Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:55:30 +0000

Out here in Colorado we have horses everywhere. Both ends of the horse.

I do understand that in late August there will be a huge increase in the numbers of horse’s asses in Denver.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:46:51 +0000

Mike:
Yes, but if anything and everything can be claimed to be “art”, what is art?

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Joy, PoMo art is art, but it is art steeped in irony. Is Warhol’s soup can beautiful? No, it is prosaic, plain, and common. But beauty was not his goal. Does all art need to seek beauty? No, of course not.

The overwhelming tendency of PoMo thought and art to disassemble to fundamental forms, and then to find those fundamental forms lacking, leads to irony, a kind of bitter and cynical humor. Some irony is amusing, as is good satire, but much is just depressing. Even more depressing is the post post modern (PoPoMo) tendency to substitute shock for irony. It is as if the rejection of fundamental forms (sometimes called abstract structures) left a barrenness and ennui that can only be dispelled through garish and shocking depravity. Crucifixes in urine, sculptures made of various types of dung, dead horses ass first hanging on a wall, extreme violence and pornography, are all attempts to elicit some kind of reaction from a jaded culture with mass attention deficit disorder. Subtlety and nuance appear to be dead, along with beauty and artistry.

But PoPoMo will also pass. The fundamental forms are eternal. Beauty will return. We are going through a bad patch culturally right now, but it is transitory. There will be a new awakening. It is happening already at grassroots levels. It won’t be long before the top dogs of the art world rediscover that art and beauty travel together.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:30:49 +0000

The overwhelming tendency of PoMo thought and art to disassemble to fundamental forms, and then to find those fundamental forms lacking, leads to irony, a kind of bitter and cynical humor. Some irony is amusing, as is good satire, but much is just depressing. Even more depressing is the post post modern (PoPoMo) tendency to substitute shock for irony. It is as if the rejection of fundamental forms (sometimes called abstract structures) left a barrenness and ennui that can only be dispelled through garish and shocking depravity. Crucifixes in urine, sculptures made of various types of dung, dead horses ass first hanging on a wall, extreme violence and pornography, are all attempts to elicit some kind of reaction from a jaded culture with mass attention deficit disorder (which looks and feels a lot like collective delusion). Subtlety and nuance appear to be dead, along with beauty and artistry.

But PoPoMo will also pass. The fundamental forms are eternal. Beauty will return. We are going through a bad patch culturally right now, but it is transitory. There will be a new awakening. It is happening already at grassroots levels. Most people are not deluded, despite appearances. It won’t be long before the top dogs of the art world rediscover that art and beauty travel together.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:06:35 +0000

Luis:
Lighten up.
In my own comments, I simply asked for examples of Post Modern Art that you or any other reader would consider Art. I am open to being “moved” or “intrigued” by most things that embody accessible insights and/or difficult to master and desirable skills.
If you find the presenting piece “artful” then fine - it would be helpful to understand why.
The underlying issue, I think, is whether our abilities to think critically have been overwhelmed by some kind of collective delusional thinking. I think Matt has presented a number of pieces of evidence in support of the latter hypothesis. You are, of course, free to dissent.

By: Luis Dias

Luis Dias — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:55:37 +0000

This is utterly amazing. Just because post modernism should get the hell out of science schools and universities (and I say FAST), it doesn’t mean it does not have a place on art.

This site is increasingly reactionary.

What a waste of thinking space.