Andy
Why do people think artists are special? It’s just another job.
-Andy Warhol
Art actually requires huge amounts of research and thought and it really is a full time job putting together an exhibition or show. Perhaps sometimes people are too quick to judge a piece of art or live performance without actually thinking about the underlying ideas and message the artist is trying to portray. Even if I didn’t particulary connect with a show, I’ll at least try to understand the directors motivation for their choices. Most works out there have the equivalent of a Masters research paper supporting the body of work and this is sometimes forgotton.
Next time you see a show or wander through an exhibition, give a thought to the hours of research the artist has put into the work, afterall they’re trying to say something to you.
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Maybe Andy Warhol had somethng to do with artists moving from being fringe dwellers to more mainstream members of society? Maybe not, he did try to be as eccentric as he possibly could! (in contradiction to his own words it seems) How important is the image that the artist portrays of themselves in modern society? It is a bit of a dilemma perhaps that as an artist we strive to make things appear to be simple so that a viewer can take in the information, but then of course that denies acknowledgment of the vast amount of thought and effort that goes into making the work!
Yes, that is the dilemma! How to find a balance between being accessible and forming some bridge of communication with the viewer, but also staying true to the underlying research and scope of the project. Hmmm I’ll get back to you with that one…
There are, however, questions that can be attended to whilst engaging with (or indeed after or before engaging with) arts works:
• What is the purpose of the arts in the 21st century?
• What influences an artist to create arts works?
• How is art like (or unlike) life?
• How do arts forms reveal the values of an individual artist or a given culture or period in time?
• How does the study of and engagement with an art form help us to construct our understanding of reality?
• To what extent can the arts be said to empower us?
• What can we learn from engaging with the arts?
• Is aesthetic inquiry as much about making and creating as it is finding out about?
• How do the arts influence the way we think, act and perceive the world?
• In what ways are all creative or imaginative arts works influenced by bias and perspective?
• Where does the meaning of an arts work reside? Within the art work? Within the viewer? Within the context in which it is viewed? Within the interplay between the work, the context and the viewer?
• What are enduring questions and conflicts that artists (and their cultures) have grappled with in the past that remain relevant today?
• To what extent are there universal themes, ideas and issues of interest and concern to all cultures and societies that seek aesthetic expression?
• What are the characteristics or elements that cause a good arts work to endure?
• What distinguishes a good arts work from a great one?
• What are the key features of an arts work?
• Who decides the criteria for judging whether an arts work is any good?
• To what extent can we use the arts to gauge the optimism or pessimism of a particular period of time or group of artists?
• How is our understanding of culture and society constructed through and by the arts?