Monday, August 22, 2011

ON S**T ART


Given a desire by human beings to create,  whether in the arts or for the propagation of the species (really not a good idea,  but that's another post),  we are faced with a glut of "art" that adds little or nothing to anyone's cultural understanding.  Just go to your local craft fair for myriad examples of this genre.  "S**t" art comes in many flavors,  but all  "S**t"  artists have something in common,  and that is a delusional perception of their "artwork's" worth,  be it monetary or aesthetic.  While this genre was originally relegated to the above venue,  it is now readily found on the internet.  Now don't get me wrong,  I'm all for the unmediated ranting of primitive art in all its powerful forms (see the art of indigenous peoples,  Art Brut, etc.),  but what I'm talking about here are the insipid meanderings of semi-educated,  semi-proficient,  self-promoting individuals,  often producing benign artworks of no artistic value whatsoever.  I would define valid artforms as those that present an emotional,  conceptual or formal statement that when experienced,  has the ability to bring a complex and expansive response from the viewer.  Again,  words such as "cute" and "awesome" shouldn't be part of that response inasmuch as they describe only visual inanities (a painting of a sunset or a puppy). In this respect,  almost all S**t art  also displays an overly mediocre sensibility.  Strangely enough,  some of the very worst (especially in the area of technique) work teeters on the edge of artistic plausibility,  as sometimes a collision course between the truly mundane, the primitive,  and the absurd may present the possibility of sudden swerves towards the ineffable or the poetic. Hmmm... they might have something there.

1 comment:

  1. In order to stay within the concept introduced by the title, should we refer to all individual pieces which drop into the ""S**t" Art category as "T***s"? Furthermore, do you think that the current proliferation of "S**t" Art will lead to the opening of Septic Museums constructed entirely of ceramic material ?

    Rich R

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