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Jim Williams

9 Years Ago

What? Exactly Is Art?

I posed this question to the members of the group "WHAT question mark" (WHAT?) last week and got so many good responses that I'm posting it here too.

I recently exchanged email with Douglas Fromm about what constitutes 'real art' and to whom it is real or not. It produced a self-realization. I'm going to share something with y'all but read it through before you quit the group in disgust, please. Many of you will have noticed a lot of obvious satire in my work, eg: 3 in 1 oil cans, mummified frogs and grasshoppers, toothpicks, my bio, my politics, some of the descriptions and lots of the names. Lampoons of art were how I got started. The only serious aspect was my loony approach (which I take VERY seriously). Somewhere along the line I realized that people really liked the images, descriptions or names by themselves or in combo. It's a real surprise then, now and (I hope) in the future. I've come to realize that a lot of 'serious' art has simply GOT to be satirical. Andy Warhol's tin cans, Chris Burden's gunshot wound, Pollocks' drop cloths, van Gogh cutting off his ear and painting a self portrait, Matisse's 'C'est nes pas une pipe', the Sistine Chapel and Mona Lisa all fit my conception of satirical art. And Playboy centerfolds. Even as I enjoyed looking at the nude centerfolds, I couldn't help thinking that both the photographer and model were making fun of us drooling guys. All this makes me uncomfortable when starting to take myself seriously. What would happen if I suddenly took my work seriously? Would 'Unnamed image number 352' be taken more seriously than 'The Mandolin Player Ate Cheez Whiz'? Would it get ANY point across?

WHAT? the hell is the point to this email? Can anyone tell me if art has any written instructions? Can't we all just goof along? HELP!

Thanks and take a look at the group site for clarification,
Jim

WHAT? URL http://fineartamerica.com/groups/what-question-mark.html

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Iris Richardson

9 Years Ago

Keep goofing along we need more laughter and certainly more thought provoking art. Create your heart away and have fun doing so.

 

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