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The "how does that qualify as art?" game

13:08 / 20.01.03

I was gonna put this in the art form, but my reason for not doing so was as follows.

I took the first turn of this game, and I did so by posting an art topic to the conversation forum.

My question is this: how does that qualify as art?

Answer this question in whatever way your creative heart desires, and come up with a new situation (such as eating bird shit) for the next player to qualify as art.

13:26 / 20.01.03

Not to spoil the game, but for any action you can think of, the answer is the same: if it's done in a mindful, considered manner, and the person doing it says it's art... then it's art.

13:32 / 20.01.03

Except Jack, if I mindfully do my washing-up and say "it's art, you philistines!", that don't mean I can sell it for thousands of dollars, so I have to beg to differ there.

Jack, that may not spoil the game, but it's not exactly playing it. Here goes:

... by not posting this in the Art forum, we can see that the artist is making a bold statement insofar as ze is attempting to blur the boundary between -so-called - high culture, and common chatter. The message of this piece, as I see it, may be one of radical democratisation of artistic endevour, that we may all be artists, and that the space in which art may be at its most moving and profound need not be an art gallery, but can be a - so-called - humble, unpretentious space, such as one commonly associated with idle chatter and banter. Thus one is forced to consider the possibility that bars, pubs, cafe's, truck-stops or even soup-kitchens etc all contain as much grandiosity of human spirit as any art gallery full of pseuds in suits spouting about Lyotard, Jacques 'The Lack' Lacan, et al. The piece, I may suggest, could be called Exploding the White Cube 1 or suchlike.

13:36 / 20.01.03

Oops, something very odd happened and I lost the second bit of that post.

Now, I was actually gonna link this this in the art forum, 'cos having recently had to review a book on Shoah memorials, I genuinely believe this to be the best ever. Of course, the meeja can't see this as a work of art. Can you guess what I was getting at / how my tiny mind was working?

13:38 / 20.01.03

Ooh, I don't know Jack, I think an object needs at least one audience member to agree it's art before it becomes art (though here you are that one).

I mean, I could paint a wall then claim it was homeopathy or car mechanicking ...

Next person has to make an installation of a dining room, complete with table, chairs, sideboard (credenza) and freshly painted walls with some nice landscapes hanging on them, in my, er, second downstairs room. Trust me, it'll be art. :-)

13:55 / 20.01.03

Thus one is forced to consider the possibility that bars, pubs, cafe's, truck-stops or even soup-kitchens etc all contain as much grandiosity of human spirit as any art gallery full of pseuds in suits spouting...

But that leads to people trying to distingiush between art and decoration. Personnally I agree and view art in the Scott McCloud defintion (from "Understanding Comics") and enjoy it where ever I view it, whether it be a portrait in the gallery, a modern-art piece in a new pub or graffiti under a railway bridge.

As for the news you linked to I feel it's the idea behind the drawing, and more importantly what it has come to represent, that is the true nature of the art here. This is now greatly increased by what is happening to the drawing. Unfortunately it doesn't say if the drawing is going to be left up there or if the astronaut is bring it back with him.

This can also go to creating art, as the astronauts will be filming themselves during the mission, thus these images, whether incorporating the original drawing or not can be viewed as art, or go towards creating an artistic piece in the future.

Okay now for my situation:

the art of conversation.

(kindly ignore if considered thread-rot, and I apologise in advance :-p)

16:07 / 20.01.03

I'm staying out of the what is art debate! (I'm kinda with Bill Burroughs - he said "art is a three-letter word".)

Unfortunately it doesn't say if the drawing is going to be left up there or if the astronaut is bring it back with him.

I wondered about that. Does the shuttle actually land on anything / anywhere though? Dunno.

I thought the contrast between the infinity of space and the claustrophobya of a gas chamber, and the evil that was Nazism (humans at their lowest) juxtaposses sharply with the achievement that is space travel (humans at their - no pun meant - highest). Hadn't thought of the other bits of what u said though....