This isn't a lecture, or anything, this is just something I think about from time to time and this post made me think of it again.
Our homeschool group went on a trip recently to see the art of Phil Bender, and the kids didn't get it. (I didn't really get it, either.) You can see some of his pieces here:
http://pirateart.homestead.com/ben1.html This is pretty representative of what we saw, in fact I'm pretty sure the hangers are the same ones we went to see. One of the kids asked,
"Why is that art? Why is this different than like a garage sale or something?" Of course, they asked it at the top of their lungs, which always makes you feel pretty stupid in an art gallery! LOL But, I couldn't fault them for asking.
What is art? There isn't really a definition that everyone can agree on, and just trying to look at what's considered art and go from there doesn't help much.
If the definition of art is that it's attractive, then I don't think the statue in the article qualifies, but then neither does a lot of Picasso's work. Is art supposed to be uplifting? Then we'll have to toss out Munch's
The Scream, because that piece gives me the willies! Is it supposed to represent the human condition? If so, why does Marcel Duchamp's
Fountain count? Does it need to depict something real? Then why is
Jackson Pollock hanging in a gallery? Is art hard to make? Then we'd better toss out all those Compositions by
Mondrian, because you could make those with a ruler and some paint.
See what I mean? It's confusing! Art doesn't necessarily make any sense.
Andy Warhol said, "Art is what you can get away with." By that definition, the piece in this article is art, because it's being displayed in a gallery and people are going to see it and talk about it.
I find this piece disrespectful. If I had any artistic ability, I wouldn't create something like this piece, because I just don't like it. But that doesn't mean it can't be called art. If part of the definition of art is "Does hipmamajen like it?" then
American Gothic is out on it's butt, because those two creep me out and when I look at it, I wonder if that's her dad and he's abusing her. That's just me, though...
Like I said, I don't like it. You're allowed to not like it, too! You can even hate it and wish it would be destroyed in a fire. But I think that to be truthful, you gotta call it art, even if you have to hold your nose while you're doing it.