My Blog

I return to you once again my cheering crowd of 1 follower  (hi mom! I'm kidding of course,  my mom doesn't read my blog). I'm here to introduce my blog as how I plan to run it. First off, I would have never started a blog on my own. I'm not too keen on sharing my inner thoughts to the internet filled with government agencies who could use this information against me, people I don'k know and even worse, people I do know. Call it paranoia but I like the thoughts in my head to remain there since most of them are unflattering. However, it is now required of me to make one and keep it updated with 1: whatever I so desire and 2: in class assignments. I'll clearly label when a post is an in class assignment which will mostly consists of free writes. It is the posts that fulfill the first condition that I'd like to talk about though. Hopefully you've read the description of my blog but if you haven't it is "My response to contemporary art." But a response to what? To the only argument that I have ever heard that supports that a crumpled up paper ball can be considered "art." That they are experiments. They are trying out new styles and techniques to broaden the art that can be created. I'm okay with this. I would actually encourage experimenting with new ideas or concepts. This is how we as a species can progress. My problem comes when an artist reveals a finished piece and says they were experimenting with a new idea or new medium. They are essentially saying that the piece is not meant to be overly criticized as its not meant to be seen as a finished piece or one that is the result of mush experimentation. In other words, they had an idea, it may suck, and they don't want to get their feelings hurt. I'm certain there are mobs of artists who say that they truly are experiments and that they should be seen as such to which I argue, then why do you want your experiments to be worth a completed piece. A scientist cannot sell the results of one experiment as it is a single isolated experiment and almost meaningless on its own. It is a single point of data that cannot lead anywhere without further experiments. Another could argue that contemporary artists already do experiment and any finished pieces are the result of this experimentation. They would argue that I simply cannot understand it to which is present a quote from Robert A. Heinlein's book Stranger in a Strange Lane, "It's up to the artist to use language that can be understood, not hide it in some private code. Most of these jokers don't even want to use language you and I know or can learn . . . they would rather sneer at us and be smug, because we 'fail' to see what they are driving at. If indeed they are driving at anything--obscurity is usually the refuge of incompetence." I am sure there are pieces of art that I do not understand but when a canvas is painted entirely blue with a single white stripe down the center ends up selling for $44 million and the best answer I can find as to its meaning or virtue is "If you don't get it, I can't explain it to you," that's where I draw the line. It's excellent to experiment but experiments are not supposed to be hailed as fine works but as rough crap sketches that they truly are. Experiments are supposed to be bad, meaningless, and not worth more than an initial reaction unless otherwise stated. Experiments are just for the initial feedback of what can be done better or what was done poorly. In the past, this wasn't possible. You would have a sketch pad to show your friends of your new art work or a journal where you write stories. Now, however, we have the internet. Now, we can reach huge audiences to get feedback and criticism on our work. Now, experiments can be clearly labeled as such and be used only for the betterment of future finished conclusions. This is what I hope to do with this blog for non class-work posts. I hope that if you reached this point, that you will continue to join me as I experiment with whatever comes to mind