Ok good point so let’s remove the good or bad part as it’s subjective. Art should encourage conversation.
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Well cheers to the family stein,
There’s Gert and there’s Ep and there’s Ein.
Gert’s poems are bunk,
Ep’s statues are junk,
And nobody understands Ein!
(N.B. Jacob Epstein, not Jeffrey)
Yes, lots of things can encourage conversation. But that doesn’t mean all these things are art.
And just because someone states that their “conversation starter” is art, doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to accept that situation.
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I am in total agreement that appreciation of art is completely subjective.
I am also in agreement that ‘Conceptual’ or ‘Performance’ art exists primarily to encourage conversation, and I do appreciate art from these genres in many cases along with the conversation and debate that they engender.
However, in my view art doesn’t always have to ‘encourage conversation’. Some works of art can be appreciated simply because in the eye of the beholder they are quite simply ‘beautiful’.
Encouraging conversation is great. However, even though this particular piece of work has sparked this conversation and this forum thread I still contend that it has no merit whatsoever, and that the 3 buyers of the work (who paid over $100k each) have been conned. They may well have been willing participants in the con, but conned nevertheless.
I wonder if the artist will continue to offer more versions of the work for sale?
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I for one, agree. Conversation or no conversation.
But I do accept that many others will have differing opinions.
Examples of modern art that we like might help illustrate the point here. I’ll start with a couple:
Koons - Aqualung
Pollock - Blue Poles (you can’t judge this from the image here - like all Pollock, it has to be seen in person)
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You could buy quite a bit of Naim kit for the price.
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When my wife found out about this she said that if people have so much spare money it could have done a lot more good for homeless charities.
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Is Maurizio Catellan a republican?
If so that may explain the banana.
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“Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan said he had been working on the idea for a year”
Now if he really did say this, then it’s enough to prove to my satisfaction that he is either ridiculously narcissistic in respect of his work, or else that he is absolutely ‘taking the proverbial’!
Now, whilst I wouldn’t say I was a Pollock ‘fan’, I really do like this piece. I’m not sure I would want to engage in a deep conversation about why I like it. I just find it aesthetically very pleasing.
I would definitely hang it, or in my case (and with my financial resources) a slightly smaller copy of it on my living room wall. That is one criterion I use to judge pieces of artwork.
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You could equally apply that statement to people who spend millions.
You don’t have except anything it’s all about choice. It’s ok not to like something, there’s lots of art I don’t like. I also think a lot art is made purely of the shock value, it’s a big world and you need to get noticed. My statement re starting a conversation is my opinion that’s all, however this thread kind of proves my point though. You don’t have to agree with that either. But just cause you either don’t like it or understand it, it doesn’t mean others will share your view nor its merit.
As for the work it’s self it’s hard not to think he’s not having a lend of us, but he’s the one with money so good on him.
Blue Poles is an excellent piece that I never appreciated till seeing in person.
We have this at home, by the French landscape painter Denis Ribas. Nobody who has seen it has said they positively like it, a few have given a look that says ‘that’s crap’ and most just ignore it. We love it. Art is so subjective. At least it’s not a banana I suppose. Though someone said the shadows look like bacon.
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I like it, well what I can see of it. But that’s the whole point. Art is subjective and personal.
Agreed, (I think quite a few of us have also said that, or words to that effect).
And that is why we can only state our own opinion about each piece of art. And are entitled to do so.
But we can, and IMHO are entitled to, also guess at whether 1% of a population or 99% of a population might agree with a stated opinion. In the case of the banana/gaffer-tape, my guess is that at least 99% of the UK population over the age of 18 would agree with Hmack’s opinion that it is worthless. OTOH, on this forum, the split could be 50/50.
I like your Ribas as well - made all the better by the effect of your lighting and the colour of the wall on which it is hung.
Definitely not a ‘banana’