Art Snobbery

[AdminAssistant]

I'm not a fan of abstract art, either. I'm especially skeptical of what I've come to call 'recycled art' - where artists take random daily life things and turn it into 'art'. Some pieces I've seen were really cool - a shield made of fake fingernails, an American flag design made of cigarette butts. Other things, not so much - a dumpster full of makeup products, a mirror wrapped in human hair. It's all subjective.

As a historian, I tend to like 'classic' plays. Shakespeare, the Romantics...and a good many of the crazy 'ism' writers like Jarry, Ionesco, Beckett, etc. However, when someone stands on stage, covers themself in white powder, then runs around - and calls it theatre...I just get confused. Unfortunately for me, my department is very pro-performance art and anti-classics. (For example, I have to direct a play reading next month, but it has to be an ultra-contemporary play, last two years.)

[Boozy]

Agreed. If a digital camera did all the work, then why do the pictures I took last week with my photographer friend's high-end camera look like crap compared to hers?

My friend understands things like lighting and composition. I just point and shoot. She wins photography competitions while I take one stupid snapshot after another of my dogs.

Edited to add: People who don't like abstract art are usually left-brained, while people who do like it are right-brained. It's wrong to assume that one viewpoint is "better" than the other. Art is supposed to make you think and feel. That's intangible and personal.

Personally, I don't "get" abstract art. But I don't "get" advanced mathematical equations either. My brain can't process either. That's my failing, not that of the artist or mathemetician.

[crazylegs]

#2 - I'm a photographer. I went to school for it, I make some money off of it and now I teach it at a University level. I've put a lot of myself into getting where I am today, artistically speaking, and yet the number of people who will look at one of my photos and say, "oh, well, anyone could do that in Photoshop" or proceed to tell me that digital photography "is cheating because the camera does all the work"... Argh... And my favourites are the ones who just bought their first point-and-shoot, have never used a camera before, and then ask me to teach them how to take photos like mine because now they have a digital camera and it really couldn't be that difficult, could it?

This really bugs me too.

I own a Digital SLR and people assume it does all the work for me. Yes having good kit makes things slightly easier (faster frame rate, quicker auto focus) but the composition and decisions made are entirely mine.

I wouldn't walk into a Chefs house and say upon production of a fantastic meal "Wow, you must have really expensive pots and pans!" yet when people see my photos the first thing they say is "wow, you must have a really expensive camera".

Yes, my camera is expensive but I've been taking photos I've been proud of for years, even when I had a 110mm (my first camera!), and then upgraded to a compact digital a few years ago. Again I was taking images that I was proud of, yet the whole thing only cost me about £100.

Photoshop is yet another rant, yes it's a very powerful piece of software but it's only as good as
a) the person using it
b) the original images going in.
If the original image is horrifically over exposed and 'blown' then no amount of software will ever save it. Thing is the majority of things that photoshop does you can do with 35mm, dodge, burn, rotate + crop, lighten, darken etc etc.

Those people who don't believe you and say that film is 'pure' should take a look at the back of one of their prints. If it's gone through a semi decent minilab then on the reverse will be a series of numbers and letters, these show to what extent the photo has been manipulated and changed by the minilab operator to make it an acceptable print. So there!

[the_std]

I wasn't saying that you have to like any of the types of art I mentioned, just that you should respect them and that they take as much talent as every other type of visual art.

[Greenday]

I personally can't stand abstract art. Sorry, but when I want to see a painting, I like to see stuff like landscapes, or people, animals, heck, even a can of soup or something. I might not be able to draw art as well as the abstract paintings, but it's not pleasing to my eye at all. It's nice if it has plenty of meaning to the artist, but I will never find meaning in a bunch of what appears to me as random shapes and colors.

Here's my favorite painting of all time: http://inversesquare.files.wordpress...n_eyck_001.jpg

Honestly, music is the only kind of art I really care about, but that painting just really draws me in. The detail amazes me. Somehow being able to draw that perfect reflection in that mirror. I can't get that from an abstract painting.

[the_std]

#1 - I hate when I see people look at some abstract/surreal/post-modern piece of art, decide that they don't get it, and then proceed to go off on a rant about how "this shit isn't real art" and "my kid could do this same thing" and suchlike. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it has any less artistic value! Someone put time and effort and thought into this piece. It has meaning, even if it doesn't to you. Why is it so hard to respect it?

#2 - I'm a photographer. I went to school for it, I make some money off of it and now I teach it at a University level. I've put a lot of myself into getting where I am today, artistically speaking, and yet the number of people who will look at one of my photos and say, "oh, well, anyone could do that in Photoshop" or proceed to tell me that digital photography "is cheating because the camera does all the work"... Argh... And my favourites are the ones who just bought their first point-and-shoot, have never used a camera before, and then ask me to teach them how to take photos like mine because now they have a digital camera and it really couldn't be that difficult, could it?

... Where's that head-banging-against-a-wall smiley when you need it?