tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post510206343631427909..comments2024-03-27T20:34:09.464+01:00Comments on zmkc: The Cult of Obscurityzmkchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-28348646106661602942010-04-27T01:43:49.438+02:002010-04-27T01:43:49.438+02:00Gaw - yes, I agree, and I think his 'jokes'...Gaw - yes, I agree, and I think his 'jokes' were fairly feeble to begin with.<br />Worm - I don't know. In the portrait prize section of the exhibition, plus a similar prize exhibition I saw at the portrait gallery in London last year and another I saw at that place near the ICA that champions traditional painting, there were lots of paintings that showed technical ability, but they were absolutely dull. Giles Auty used to write interestingly about how people like Velasquez (if that statement makes any sense - was there another person like Velasquez? {but you know what I mean]) were apprenticed from about 8 years old and did nothing but paint ever afterwards, and now no-one can ever get near that level of understanding of how to move paint about on a canvas, because they never get that familiar with the process.zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-61947250589860563722010-04-26T19:36:19.002+02:002010-04-26T19:36:19.002+02:00zmkc - sweeping statement I know, but I think its ...zmkc - sweeping statement I know, but I think its mostly down to a lack of genuine artistic ability. Why strive to be a technically amazing artist when it's easier to bamboozle people with concepts they have to take on your word?wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-67790627747100140092010-04-26T17:33:47.226+02:002010-04-26T17:33:47.226+02:00I think Duchamp, having invented that sort of conc...I think Duchamp, having invented that sort of conceptual art, went on to exhaust its possibilities. It's a mystery how it keeps going.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-3686432588096046392010-04-26T13:44:44.676+02:002010-04-26T13:44:44.676+02:00Gadjo and Worm: I agree - but the dominant strand ...Gadjo and Worm: I agree - but the dominant strand in contemporary art seems to be the conceptual stuff. Is it because art schools are almost all attached to universities now and so they have to justify their courses within academic frameworks?zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-38515709242808935632010-04-26T10:46:05.331+02:002010-04-26T10:46:05.331+02:00Im with Gadjo - I have a best friend who's a p...Im with Gadjo - I have a best friend who's a pretty well known 'conceptual' artist - and he often runs his ideas past me for an opinion before making things - I always tell him exactly what Gadjo says - if you've got to explain it's provenance in order for it to make sense, then it probably isn't very good. Naturally, my friend and I argue like dogs over this!!wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-21365381975809710462010-04-26T07:56:19.436+02:002010-04-26T07:56:19.436+02:00I have a theory - one of several, but I shall spar...I have a theory - one of several, but I shall spare you the others! - that if one has to explain one's art, <i>in any way</i>, then it's probably not very good art. Likening one's output to that of third-rate Futurist Duchamp's is also a sure way to put me off. That's just my opinion, obviously, and if it makes a philistine then I guess I'll have to live with that :-)Gadjo Dilohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08998278830936531990noreply@blogger.com