Old School

Hilton Kramer. What a guy. No, but seriously. I actually found much of what he said to be in accordance with what I personally feel about the direction art is heading in today. We don’t agree on all of the issues addressed, but a good chunk of it. Plus he is what I would consider a Grandpa; totally old school & stubborn. But you know what? Will Ferrell starred in a movie called Old School, it was delightful. Point of that... being old school isn’t always bad. 

The first concept that I identified with was linking moral life to art. Or as Kramer put it, “living up to one’s highest abilities”. This is the idea of not just taking art at face value for its aesthetic appeal, but also taking into account the artists lifestyle. This includes relationships, his/her attitude, morals and over all experiences in life. After all, if art is meant to be an outward expression of the artist...wouldn’t a little background information help us  further understand the artist and their work?  Kramer used Picasso (scumbag) as an example. This doesn’t under-mind his work in anyway, I happen to think its beautiful. But, I suppose I feel its important to have a back story with art, it helps me identify, connect and have a greater appreciation for what I’m looking at. 

 

For example, Jack Ryan came into class this week and shared his work with us. It was interesting to say the least...I was personally quite confused with most of it. The sound wave/deafening experiment was, in short, horrible. (Not art). He just wanted to see if we could hear...Well, I could before class... Anyways, we then saw his film”Blue Skies, There She Blows”. I didn’t actually get what I was looking at, I didn’t see the humor in it; it was just a youtube video. I won’t even get started on the Maalox Infinity piece...or the videos. Actually, I will. I hated all of them, especially ‘Salt’. That was just creepy & confusing, I even had a “wft?” moment in class. 

Okay, so here is my point; clearly I do not appreciate Jack Ryan’s work, but upon hearing his life and all of the bizarre experiences he’s been through (being a commercial fisherman, living in a crime scene aka Alaska, teaching in New York etc.) I had a whole new appreciation for what he was presenting. It didn’t matter that I had no appeal to it whatsoever. Obviously not everyone is going to consider the same things art, but there is a big difference in writing something off, and at least having an appreciation for the craftsmanship and dedication that was put into a piece.

My visual response this week is work done by Charlie Brouwer. To many his work simply appears as ladders in random arrangements, which technically, is what it is. But it is his reasoning for using ladders that makes me love his work. He is a rather spiritual guy, so the ladders are symbols of reaching upwards, to a higher understanding.