What actually IS Art, specifically performance art?

[mjr]

The Mrs. and I had a rather interesting back and forth the other day about what Art is.

I contend that, at least in my mind, you can't just take a bunch of random crap, weld/glue/whatever it together, and call it "art". Another example is the guy who put a crucifix in a jar of urine and called it "art". That's not art.

I really don't get "performance art", either. I mean, I can see someone arguing for "dance" or "singing" as a performance art, heck, even theater. I get that. But "Hey, come and watch me sit in this chair and stare out a window for two hours! (or whatever)" isn't art. I'm sorry, it isn't. My wife argued that it's meant to "make a statement". Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to "get" that type of performance art.

But if I videotape myself watching TV for two hours, or mowing my lawn, I can't put the video up on YouTube and say it's "performance art" -- because it isn't. At least in my mind. Although my wife's counter-argument is that if I "made a statement" by doing so then it absolutely would count as performance art. Ok...here's my statement: "I wanted to watch TV, and thought it would be funny to video myself doing so." and "I need to mow my lawn, so I thought it would be funny to video myself doing so."

It's comedic performance art!

Also, I recently went to an art museum a couple of months back. They had an exhibit there that was basically aluminum and rubber laid on the floor in rows. I seriously didn't get it, and I have to question how it's art.

Another exhibit had a room with helium-filled balloons, and pennies on the floor. Again, I ask: How is that art?

I guess I'm biased toward painting and actual sculpture.

Can someone please explain this to me?

[Greenday]

I hate that crap personally.

Carrying a mattress around to show what it feels like to know your school doesn't take your rape seriously? Art.

Doing dumb crap that has no real meaning? Not art.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Art has become a way for the artist to express something (not necessarily "make a statement".) Sometimes there are complex emotions or thoughts that simply can't be explained through words (which in itself is an art, and not everyone's strong point), and the artist has tried to translate their feelings or thoughts into something else.

Not everyone's strong point is clay or stone sculpting, or that medium is not suited to what is trying to be expressed.

But here's the thing - just because you don't "get it", doesn't mean it's not art.

Someone standing next to you could've looked at those helium balloons and things on the floor and felt something in response to that art installation (be it wonderment, elation, etc.) Not everyone will react to the same piece the same way.

I look at one of those "paint splatter" paintings and I'm just like "meh..." But I saw a painting of varying shades of white paint, some chipped out to make a texture, and it made me feel lonely, but also clean.

Art doesn't always have to do with making a statement - as people so often think - but can just be attempting to elicit an emotional response from the reviewer.

So just because those pieces didn't generate any kind of emotional response from you other than confusion and disdain, doesn't mean someone else didn't have a different emotional response to those same paintings.

So basically, those installations didn't seem artistic to you, but they are still art.

[Rageaholic]

I remember taking an art history course and one of the requirements that it had to be unique, ie: not mass produced. An original model of a vehicle would be considered art, but the ones that are massed produced would not be. There were other requirements too and I'm not even sure if that one is 100% accurate, but I think it's on the mark.

[mjr]

Carrying a mattress around to show what it feels like to know your school doesn't take your rape seriously? Art.

I'd like to know in what way that constitutes "art".

If that's "art", my next piece of performance art is going to be wearing a ball and chain to work because I think I should get paid more.

[mjr]

But here's the thing - just because you don't "get it", doesn't mean it's not art.

Someone standing next to you could've looked at those helium balloons and things on the floor and felt something in response to that art installation (be it wonderment, elation, etc.) Not everyone will react to the same piece the same way.

So basically, those installations didn't seem artistic to you, but they are still art.

Fair enough, but explain to me how this:



And this:



Are "art".

One is just rocks arranged in a circle, and one looks like a big, metal circle just bent at a 90º angle.

[Kheldarson]

I'd like to know in what way that constitutes "art".

If that's "art", my next piece of performance art is going to be wearing a ball and chain to work because I think I should get paid more.

She's making a statement about how the weight of her memory of that night, as represented by the matress, is with her all the time.

One is just rocks arranged in a circle, and one looks like a big, metal circle just bent at a 90º angle.

Could be how our perceptions of things can be changed with distance. Because in a smaller frame, neither installation looks the way you think they do.

Ultimately, art in any form has to have personal meaning to the artist. If it speaks to others, wonderful. You'll probably get paid. But it won't speak to everyone, and you can't try for that.

[NecCat]

One is just rocks arranged in a circle, and one looks like a big, metal circle just bent at a 90º angle.

I don't know about the circle of rocks, but the 2-d circle that's folded over looks really cool, I wonder if it's big enough to sit under. I'd go see that in person, see if I like it in real life.

[Greenday]

I'd like to know in what way that constitutes "art".

If that's "art", my next piece of performance art is going to be wearing a ball and chain to work because I think I should get paid more.

It represents the struggle she has to deal with every day of having to go to school knowing her school basically has okayed the ordeal she went through.

And if you wanted to wear a ball and chain to work claiming that you feel like you are paid slave wages or something, I'd understand that.

[mjr]

It represents the struggle she has to deal with every day of having to go to school knowing her school basically has okayed the ordeal she went through.

I understand that. To me, that still doesn't make it "art".

And if you wanted to wear a ball and chain to work claiming that you feel like you are paid slave wages or something, I'd understand that.

Sure, I could understand that. But in my mind, it still wouldn't be "art".

[Kheldarson]

I understand that. To me, that still doesn't make it "art".

Sure, I could understand that. But in my mind, it still wouldn't be "art".

And that's fine. But art, story, music, anything creative is in the eye of the beholder.

[Shangri-laschild]

And that's fine. But art, story, music, anything creative is in the eye of the beholder.

This is very true. There are a lot of famous paintings or sculptures that don't speak to me in anyway. They don't make a statement to me personally, they don't elicit any emotion bad or good. That doesn't make them a lack of art. There are some I feel that way about that I can respect the creativity or that I think they at least look pretty but that's not true of all of them. And there is plenty of the modern art that I especially don't get. Doesn't make it not art. Who am I to judge. Just because it doesn't hit me the same way it hits other people doesn't make it not art and I don't think that what is art/not art is or should be a straight line.

[Greenday]

I understand that. To me, that still doesn't make it "art".



Sure, I could understand that. But in my mind, it still wouldn't be "art".

Ok, what about people acting in movies and TV shows? Is that art?

What about if you go to see a play? Is that art?

[Andara Bledin]

Art is one of those things that, ultimately, defies description.

It can be created intentionally, or accidentally.

It can be used to evoke emotions or to refute them.

It can be original, it can be derivative, or it can be a reproduction of other art.

It can be practical or it can be for it's own sake alone.

It can be representative, or it can be abstract.

Ultimately, anything that anyone creates and calls 'art' is art. It might not be good art. It might not be art that everybody gets. It might not be imaginative at all. It could be shit (literally or figuratively). But none of that makes it not art, it just makes it not your art.

[mjr]

Ok, what about people acting in movies and TV shows? Is that art?

What about if you go to see a play? Is that art?

Yes, to both. As is a symphony or rock concert.

But if we're extending "art" to be "whatever we want it to be", then I could call "mowing my lawn" art. And no one could tell me otherwise.

Or how about when I fix the section of fence that the recent storm we had blew down? Would that be "art" if I say it is??

So I guess what I'm getting at is this:

Is something art just because someone says it is?

So as Andara points out, I could drop a deuce on a sheet of paper and call it "Crap #1", and as long as I call it art, then it's art?

Or heck, maybe next time I pee, I'll catch it in a jar, take it to an art museum, and say, "Here's my latest piece. Display it somewhere."