After watching a movie about his work and reading a few tid-bits about his work I'm still in a cloud about what I think of his work. I understand the significance he had of the art world but personally he does not resinate with me. What I mean is, if everything is art doesn't that also mean that nothing is art? I think he boarders on this line way to much, so I lean towards not finding much of his performances relevant and therefore I have tended not to appreciate his work as much as some others seem to.
see for yourself and how you respond to it...
Now, as for my project, I came upon a photographer that I REALLY resonate with; Anne Brigman. She was a pictorialist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Her work uses the female nude in landscapes, creating compositionally something similar to a renaissance painting. My portraits try to portray the nude model posing with sheer fabric and I realized that my work has very similar lines and framing to her lines created within her landscapes. Her use of curving lines with the body and the environment is something I would like to achieve going into this project.
I don't know if nothing capable of being art is an implication that really bothers me personally, but it does create some strange relationship with performance that seems paradoxical. If only a few people can understand everything as being art and art moves in the direction of Flux-type performances, does that not mean that fewer would be able to relate to the art being created. This seems at odds with the concept of more fully integrating art into society and making it more accessible to people. Anyway, I think some of the things that have come out of his work are positive, regardless of whether they are viewed as art and I admire results even more than just trying.
ReplyDeleteThese photos do remind me of your project pitch, it should be good to know ahead of time some of the similarities in other artists' work.
It seems like after studying the Fluxus movement, everyone has the same question in mind: What is Art?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it depends on us how we define art. There is not just one, but many forms of art, such as painting, sculpture, performance art, etc. Since we have such a wide range of things that classify as art, then who are we to judge what is art and what isn't?
Nonetheless, I also agree with you that if everything is art, then nothing is art as well. I think that before the definition of art is further expanded and/or distorted, someone must draw a fine line between what is art and what isn't. This way, we would have less random artists attempting to create meaningless things today!
As for your research artist, I find her work as really fascinating and I think you should make your model(s) do some of the same poses as those in the photographs!
Beuys emphasizes that it is the mindfulness and intensity with which actions are executed that elevates the action to art. In many ways, it is not unlike ancient and sacred rituals that slow down the mental processes to fully absorb the relevance of the most minute aspect of daily life.
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