Hi,
I’m an artist myself and have to deal with hanging with many other artists who are atheist and at times snarky about me being religious. Either way that’s fine, I just hang on my own or with respectable people. But i saw this article about this artist from brooklyn who made a “piece” which was wine popsicles and when you finished them the popsicle stick wa a cross with Christ on it and it was red from the wine… I posted a picture below and the article has more info. Kind of fed up with artists using this as a way to gain exposure… What do you guys think, am I taking it to much to heart?
web2carz.com/trends/offline/1015/artist-creates-jesus-popsicles
That’s the article.
Can’t wait to get to talk with other fellow Christian artists
Stay Blessed,
Brian
Edit/Delete Message
This is not art. It is blasphemy of the sacred image revered by Catholics and other Christians.
Here is another example, though I would never condone violence against an object like this. I would lodge a complaint and ask for its removal.
guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/18/andres-serrano-****-christ-destroyed-christian-protesters
There are two types of art. Art that depicts something recognizable and that has some virtue. This is also called “representational art.”
Then there is “fine art.” I have dealt with fine artists and it mostly boils down to posing and lame cleverness, like a joke that’s almost funny, but the punch line is lame or the goal is pointless or inexplicable. However, with all due respect, it has a distinct class structure that borrows heavily from religion
Once again, meaning no disrespect, I believe the following comparisons are valid to a greater degree than not.
Art Critics are the priests. They decide what is and what is not art. If they grant you the title “important” then your work has their blessing. They are also denominational in the sense that Abstract, Cubist and Post-Modern are denominations of art.
Art Gallery Owners are higher in importance than Art Critics. You can offer your work for showing but it must receive the blessing of the gallery owner, or better still, a known art critic.
When I was taking art classes, our class was taken to one of the finer art galleries. In that case, while the art depicted people, it accented the color of their veins in blue. It was mind-numbingly pointless. A quick glance told me I wouldn’t have any one of these pieces on my wall for free. However, our art instructor showed us the proper ritual behavior in what I would compare to a primitive place of worship. She sat and spent a significant amount of time looking at the paintings.
In my basic drawing class, our instructor invited a non-representational artist in to let us view one of his latest works. It was about 14 by 20 inches tall. It was done totally in graphite on a very thick illustration board. Some of the lines were thick and some were medium and some were thin. He smiled broadly as he indicated to us a special feature. He pointed out that some of the graphite had run like paint by using a liquid called Bestine. Well, we looked at it for a while and I realized three things, (1) There was no starting point for the eye, (2) it was incomprehensible, and (3) it could probably be duplicated without much effort. Or, to put it another way, there was no evident craftsmanship involved
Then something unexpected happened. A student in the back of the class said, "Isn’t that the letter K in the lower right corner? The artist was shocked. He looked, and I looked, and sure enough, there was a letter K. Dejected, he excused himself and left the class.
Another example. A name local artist was showing his latest painting in a room adjacent to me. I could see the painting and the unidentified man he was talking to. The artist explained that he had stretched some gessoed (whitened) canvas across a frame, and then he applied thick, horizontal bands of different colors from top to bottom. He then cut strips of natural canvas, which is a brown color, and applied it to the paint at regular spaces from top to bottom, the paint acting like glue. The punch line: “You see. Instead of the canvas holding the paint, the paint is holding the canvas!”
Give. Me. A. Break.
This is not about exposure, it is about a philosophy. A form of brainwashing, really. In my Art Indoctrination class (they called it Art Appreciation) we sat in movie theater style seating as our instructor put up slides on a large screen at the end of the stage he was standing on.
In one example, we were shown a solid, clear, lucite plastic, rectangular block with metal rods sticking out of it at intervals. Our instructor, with great passion in his voice, said, “This is a man’s life!!” Really? I don’t get it.
Or get this:
“Art should offend people because art should challenge people.”
Eriq La Salle
Yep, that’s the art I want. Every time I walk by it and get offended I should what? Love it?
The last straw came when our life drawing instructor took us to the local art museum. While walking around, I came across a spiral of duct tape about 10 feet across on the floor. It was totally meaningless and inexplicable. However, I was granted the answer. There was a small white card next to it. On it were these words: “Please do not remove. This is art.”
Yes, I now saw the man behind the curtain and his brainwashing machine in action. Only a true Initiate into the cult of Fine Art would instantly recognize it. But the average person, like the cleaning lady who might scrape it up off the floor? No. She and the rest of us were not members of the tribe.
When I got back to class, I talked to my life drawing instructor with whom I had a mutually friendly relationship. I didn’t mention the little white card, I asked him what the heck was a spiral of duct tape doing in an art museum.
He grabbed me by the lapels, and with theatrical anger in his voice, said, – surprise – surprise: “That’s a man’s life on that floor.” He went on to tell me a tear-jerker of a story. I told him: “You know what? If that guy wanted people to know him and understand his work, he should have dropped a stack of little pamphlets next to his art. You know, so people would get it.”
So, no, it’s not art. It’s a form of anger in my view. Like someone poking you with a sharp stick and knowing it will hurt to some degree.
Peace,
Ed
