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I don't "get" art

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41–50 of 271 posts

Re: I don't "get" art

#41
post #33

If Glen Coco (The author) never "got" art I'm not sure why he devoted so much of his life to it. I felt like this article was a farce. I've often contemplated writing a blog post titled "Art analysis for the uninitiated". If you'd be interested please let me know. Some analysis from an art student: 1st piece with the flowers: This looks to be an homage to still life paintings. Still lifes are about the cycle of life;…

It makes me wonder if the piece itself is art: designed to provoke and inspire defense, similar to Boal's invisible theater...

p.s. Of course, Dadaists were doing it on purpose: gosh, I love that movement. The fur-covered cup may be my favorite piece of art ever.

Re: I don't "get" art

#43

Art is simple. It exists to decorate the walls of rich people. It's been that way for thousands of years. I'm not very rich, but I have some art around the place. It's pretty awesome. The problem is that a lot of these artists don't get art. They are confused about their role in life, and they go round wasting their time making things that rich people wouldn't want on their walls. And that's just pointless and sad.

What's it called when poor people put it on the wall?

Kitsch

Re: I don't "get" art

#44
post #33

If Glen Coco (The author) never "got" art I'm not sure why he devoted so much of his life to it. I felt like this article was a farce. I've often contemplated writing a blog post titled "Art analysis for the uninitiated". If you'd be interested please let me know. Some analysis from an art student: 1st piece with the flowers: This looks to be an homage to still life paintings. Still lifes are about the cycle of life;…

>>I felt like this article was a farce. Oh, HN. You take everything so seriously. It's VICE!

I'm sorry if I sound like an art snob but he looks to just be milking the common view that "modern art is dumb/stupid/no talent/i'm not cool enough" for no reason. He just seems to be whining for whining's sake. See his other articles about "giving art another chance". He's not looking to think or allow for expression in any form. He just wants to whine that people like to think abstractly and he thinks it's dumb. To each is own.

Re: I don't "get" art

#45

Most contemporary artists works need to be appreciated as a whole, not as isolated pieces. The author here looks at trees but misses the forest. Most people look at art as if they are portfolio pieces in dribbble.com. (Hmm, I like this icon, Hmm, I don't like that color). But art does not merely reproduce the beauty of forms, instead, it gives language to the "soul" so that it may speak. Protip: Keep an open mind.

> Most contemporary artists works need to be appreciated as a whole, not as isolated pieces

In other words, demonstrating one's affinity (or non-affinity) to a particular group becomes more important than demonstrating individual skills/virtuosity. Nietzsche (whom so many contemporary artists adore, btw) would have some harsh words on such herd mentality.

Re: I don't "get" art

#46

I knew my wife was the woman for me when we visited the Tate Modern on our first date and both walked out after 30 minutes agreeing that it's all garbage. [and went to Greenwich park and observatory which is awesome] Art is the ultimate example of social proof at work. Another great one is wine. I live in the Bordeaux winelands and the only difference between Premier Cru wines like Chateau Margaux at $400 a bottle an…

I revisited the Tate Modern recently and a lot of the permanent exhibits are less bullshit than they used to be. Video Of Naked Guy Punching Himself In The Face Repeatedly While His Genitals Wibble Back And Forth, for instance, has been put away.

Awww. That sounds like it speaks directly to all the people who wish artists spent more time getting punched in the face!

Re: I don't "get" art

#47
Art is about values. If you don't "get" a particular work of art, it's because the values embodied in it not only do not resonate with your own values, but aren't even part of the universe of values that you think about.

It's not because you don't "get" art as such. Of course you "get" art, so long as it's the kind of art that fits with your worldview.

The kind of art that I think appeals to many scientists and engineers is the kind that exalts the potential of mankind, e.g. the Star Trek universe.

Re: I don't "get" art

#48
I'm not going to deny that there's a lot of crappy art out there. However, this article is such bullshit that I suspect the writer is just trolling.

For those who are nodding along with this article, consider the Obfuscated C contest: http://www.ioccc.org/

That's art. But it's art that most people in the world can't begin to appreciate. You need years of coding experience to really get it. You need context. When hackers sit down and study those works of art, they're not just posing.

A lot of modern art is like that. I look and scratch my head. If I go with a friend who understands the context, they can explain to me the history: movement Z is a reaction to Y, which in turn is a reaction to X. The artist is grappling with themes A and B, and exploring materials C, D, and E.

Many of us can do similar analysis with video games. Look at the Upgrade Complete series, which is a fun set of commentary on games at the same time it's a fun game. Look at the rise of the 8-bit look and sound that harks back to an earlier era. To an outsider, the 8-bit stuff could just seem like shitty graphics, but to many insiders it's awesome and nostalgic and charming. That's art.

Of course, Kongregate and GameStop are both full of shitty games. It'd be easy to write an article like this one, condemning all videos games as crap. But I and many other HN readers are willing to wade through the crap because when you find the gems, they're real works of art. Art requiring context to really understand.

Re: I don't "get" art

#49
post #48

I'm not going to deny that there's a lot of crappy art out there. However, this article is such bullshit that I suspect the writer is just trolling. For those who are nodding along with this article, consider the Obfuscated C contest: http://www.ioccc.org/ That's art. But it's art that most people in the world can't begin to appreciate. You need years of coding experience to really get it. You need context. When hack…

Incredibly well said. I'm beginning to think he is a troll as well.

Re: I don't "get" art

#50
That art seems boring to me. But 2001 was boring to me until I knew what went into the model work for the spaceships. I'm not sure I could appreciate this art if I studied art, but I'd be willing to try. This is what I usually think of when I think art: http://mkr.deviantart.com/favourites/

Maybe the author is going after the wrong kind of art. Not all of it needs a manual.

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