A really interesting article about the changes in the art world over the past decade or two, mirroring the movement away from global awareness that multiculturalism had been brewing in the late 80s to 90s as the country moved politically towards greater conservatism, and how that has, in the end, handicapped American art as it became too localized and exclusive, not to mention product oriented over vision/quality/knowledge for the sake of knowledge oriented. I wonder if there is any correlation in the publishing world as well.
Long live art
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3 responses to “Long live art”
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“Why not make studio training an interdisciplinary experience, crossing over into sociology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, poetry and theology? Why not build into your graduate program a work-study semester that takes students out of the art world entirely and places them in hospitals, schools and prisons, sometimes in-extremis environments, i.e. real life?”
I like this point. I think the art world seems to exist in its own bubble outside the world, and that’s why I just couldn’t buy (or make my way into) it. I mean, it is a general rule in art school that you are there because you want to make it to the top. But not necessarily. If I have to research the newest fads in art magazines to get inspiration, that seems pretty fake.
I’ve had many an internal debate over whether to throw myself into the retail-art world or wait until I found a place where my personal art would have meaning. I’ve gone with the latter (mostly out of necessity as I had to work full-time to live) but also because I felt if I started making art to *target sales* it would empty me of the creative vigor that comes from true artistic creation that is made firstly as a reflection of the self.
SO! I think all I was really try to say is that art therapy falls into that “real life” category mentioned in the article, and I feel it’s a positive reinforcement to my decision to take my career in that direction. Art can totally have an everyday function, it’s not just a hoity toity NYC fad.
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Also in your mention of localized art, I couldn’t help thinking of the Idora Park wood art I see advertised in the Metro Monthly. Talk about targeting (taking advantage of?) a pinpointed population. It sounds just a little souvenir-y.
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I know what you’re talking about with the pinpointed population. It’s definitely souvenir-y, though I would love to see if someone could make something of the stuff that didn’t feel like it is. You know?
The fads of the art world exist in publishing, too, and all the other arts and entertainment industries, I think, and it does all seem a bit silly in a way, to try to write towards a fad or trend rather than in your own direction.
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