Abstract Art - why talk about it if you don't get it.

[i-need-a-martini]

I volunteer at a regional gallery and get to meet some wonderful, weird and wacky people.

But the ones that get up my goat are the ones who say "That looks like something a 5 year old would do." and expect me to agree with them.

And whilst we have a lot of community exhibitions that are amateurish enough (so perhaps the comment may be fair enough), the comment is usually reserved for iconic artists in major travelling exhibitions who are extremely well known.

Does anyone here like abstract art? And if you really hate it, why?

[raptor_rebooted]

thanks for trying to find the paintings.

it is a shame we can't see them, would 

be interesting to see others' opinions.

i did find this by fred williams - if this is similar

to the one being described as something a child 

could do then yes, i agree. 

you shouldn't necessarily think of it as an insult.

some art is meant to be perceived that way.

personally, i find it fascinating to hear such contrasting

opinions on the same thing and would not dismiss 

them as foolish.  

That statement is not an OPINION. It's an ill thought out cop out when you don't have anything intelligent to say and are just full of your own opinion and not prepared to consider anything or anyone else to do with the painting. 

that doesn't make sense. 

[raptor_rebooted]

Julia, you yourself offered an opinion on that Duchamp piece. You didn't think the painting had depth, the colours didn't blend and it wasn't harmonious. I personally don't agree with you but I certainly wouldn't criticise you for that because that was a valid and well thought out OPINION. You didn't dismiss the painting with a dumb comment - you gave it intelligent consideration. 

thank you but it was rabbitearbandicoot

who critiqued the composition  

[tcmsecretuseid]

It makes me happy to see so much passion about art. 

It's great to read the different reactions to various pieces. 

Regarding the selling price of the Picasso painting.  Of course a copy or print would sell for a fraction of the price. 

Original artwork by famous artists have value because our society puts value on famous people. Just as certain actors can demand 10 million per film. To question something that just is what it is, doesn't make sense to me. Nobody is forcing us to go to the films of these actors, or to purchase the paintings that are over-priced. In a way, it is a big 'ol con job. 

People invest in Art. Throw in several million today, sell it for several million more in a few years. Or not. I don't have the money or desire to play that game. 

I once stopped by a street vendors booth in Berlin to look at the watercolors for sale. The man was the "artist". I looked through about 100 paintings, and I decided to buy two. The man looked at me, and nearly cried. His girlfriend had put in one piece, after he convinced her that she could paint. I bought the first piece she ever sold. He ended up trying to give me more of his paintings for free. 

To some of you, it might look like a 10 year old painted it. I don't see it that way. I still really like it. It's messy, and shows great abandon in her style. It's still life gone wild. 

To the person who was disturbed by the wheel, because it looked stuck. I feel exactly the opposite. I feel as if the wheel is free to turn at anytime. I want to spin the wheel, and watch the spokes make patterns as it turns. Isn't it great that we both have such a different reaction to the same piece? 

[janeababe]

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@tcmsecretuseid wrote:

To the person who was disturbed by the wheel, because it looked stuck. I feel exactly the opposite. I feel as if the wheel is free to turn at anytime. I want to spin the wheel, and watch the spokes make patterns as it turns. Isn't it great that we both have such a different reaction to the same piece? 

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I have given the wheel in chair *ART* (cough cough) a lot of thought.

In my mind, it represents one's life journey. Some days it is easy going, one is able to get over the bumpy road with out too much difficulty. Other days, your world can be turned upside down, and you feel stuck in one spot, unable to move forward.

I *cough cough* because I dont think that particular piece required any skill or talent to create, and at the end of the day, its just a wheel placed into the top of a stool and I dont consider it art!

[i-need-a-martini]

The whole point of that piece was that it was never meant to be art. It was created to raise the question of "what is art?"

It was never meant to have any interpretation other than for the artist to have others query what he was creating.

Its value is not because it is a beautiful work of art. Its value is because of what it represents.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

 

Fred Williams

Beautiful evocative landscapes of the Australian outback.

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I wonder where that scene is? It's disgusting how all that rubbish has been left around like that.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

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@lurker172602 wrote:

The Arkley piece reminds me of some of Peter O'Doherty's work.  I love his stuff.

edit to say, I don't think many 5yo's could do that.

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No, I agree. You're talking more a 9 or 10 year old for that one.

[poddster]

Martini, no matter how anyone needs to dress it up, most art critics and people who interpret art are nothing but pretentious people attempting to elevate their status in the eyes of others.

They try to do this by saying that some article, being a painting, sculpture, music etc. is a work of art, they claim that others do not understand. It can be any article for example a 5 meter square canvas painted totally black with nothing but a tiny grey dot just off centre.

This art could be titled solitary confinement, the tunnel, focus, off centre, point or any other inane title and there would be art critics building elaborate stories filled wit buzz words to extol the virtues of this 'masterpeice'

But in reality it is nothing more or less than  a heap of carp attempting to pass for an artistic creation

[raptor_rebooted]

Martini, no matter how anyone needs to dress it up, most art critics and people who interpret art are nothing but pretentious people attempting to elevate their status in the eyes of others.

lol that is so true

[poddster]

By the way the above is my opinion formulated over many years and I have tested it countless times in many areas. It not directed at anyone, it is an observation.

Audiophiles, wine connoisseurs, foodies, literary critics, film critics, theater critics etc. fall into the same group.

Surely it is the consumer who is the judge if what they like or dislike.