Something a little different today. I was asked in TNET to watch this video, and what I thought about it. A quick glimpse informed me that ‘LindyBeige’ is a person who lives to complain. I made it through the modern art hate video, decided to skip the rant about global warming. I’ve known a number of people who live to complain, and I can’t say I’ve cared for them much.
Oh, art. In general, people adore spouting off about art, and the sport of art hating has been going on since forever. That’s what a lot of modern art haters miss – they aren’t super bright and doing something new. I’m pretty comfortable saying there were most likely a host of cave art critics who never shut up, and had a great deal of trouble with that modern art. Every generation – modern art. All that said, most people operate on a “I know what I like” basis when it comes to art of any kind, and that’s fine. I do that myself, even when it comes to work I can appreciate, but don’t particularly like personally. There will always be things which grab you immediately, and things you’ll hate, and things which will leave you cold.
Mr. Beige had a problem with one artist in particular, I wasn’t able to catch the name, but this artist worked with shit, or least that was Mr. Beige’s assumption. [Being told who the artist was, and looking up some of their work, it seems rather doubtful dung of any kind was used.] That got a shrug out of me, because that’s hardly new or unusual. Such art tends to be done in order to make a statement. If you get so hung up on the material, you’ll miss that, and I guess that’s fine, too, you don’t have to ‘get’ everything in the art world.
I did almost snort my tea laughing when Mr. Beige announced, in such a sniffy manner, “It made no attempt to please me.” Spare me, please. Artists are not making the slightest effort to please you, Mr. Beige. I’d say most of us are gratefully unaware of your existence, like I was a short while ago. That’s not what art is about. Well, not most of it anyway. There’s an almost unimaginable amount of art in the world, and only a sliver of it ever gets into shows or museums. If you go looking, you’ll find plenty which manages to please you.
As for Mr. Beige’s “I am so insulted” reading of Mirsad Begič’s blurb, I would have thought that a professional whinger would be, at the very least, marginally aware of all the pretentiousness in the art world, and know to take it all with a healthy dose of salt. That said, life, love, death? Yes, they all do involve a great deal of shit, on the physical and metaphorical levels.
There was then a very rapid look at some other work, and more complaining. All Mr. Beige saw were works which were made without taking his personal sensibilities into account. I saw a number of works which were thought provoking. One function of art is to make people think, to open up, change, or twist perception. It’s not all about painting a pleasing little picture, and if all you’re after is a pleasing little picture, there’s plenty of that to go around. If you’re a person who is going to get their knickers in a knot over going to a particular show based only on the pretentious blurb, that’s on you. A difficult to please person should learn to do their research.
I see a great deal of art work which I find disturbing on a personal level, but even then, I take the time to find out just what it was the artist was out to express, and view it all through different eyes. I may still not like it, or still find it disturbing, but I generally come away with a more thoughtful understanding, and often, a new perspective. That’s rather the point of art.
As for Mr. Beige, I can’t say I think much of his creative endeavors, but I don’t find whinging to be all that.
The artist who set Mr. Beige off?
Graduate of art, born in Glamoč in Bosnia in 1953. After completing art school he continued his studies at the Academy of Art in Ljubljana, where he graduated from the sculptural department under Professors Zdenko Kalin, Slavko Tihec and Drago Tršar. Between 1982 and 1983 he undertook further training in London at St. Martin’s School of Art.
His creative heritage includes several independent exhibitions and many group exhibitions at home and abroad. He has taken part in various international sculptural symposium and colonies. He lives and works in Ljubljana.
He has received a number of awards for his work, including the Prešeren Award in 2000.
I’m now busy looking at a whole lot of Mr. Begič’s work, and I’d be more than pleased to see any of it in person.
Mirsad Begić is the artist he’s talking about at first.
Ah, thank you! Added some information. Searching ‘sculptor Mirsad Begič’ yields a ton of results, and I’m enjoying his work. After reading a bit, it seems rather doubtful he actually worked in shit, but that’s neither here nor there. In one of his shows, I would have sworn he was using human bones, but upon closer inspection, it was clay of some sort, but wrought in such a way it made you think “bones!” right away. A most interesting artist.
Oh, I did not expect such a lenghty response. One nitpick: the name of the youtuber is not Beige, but Nicolas Lloyd (on his webpage linked on his youtube channel, not a secret or difficult to find so I do not think this is doxing). Lindybeige is just his youtube nickname.
I do agree he is a sort of a pretentious asshole on many issues he should shut up because he evidently knows jack shit about them (AGW, where he thinks he knows better than climate scientists), but afaik competent on other issues (archeology, medieaval weaponry, WW2 history -- which is how I came across his channel). He has disturbing simlarities with some other youtuber(s).
I do think that there is a kern of truth to this video of his nevertheless. I also think there is a lot of truth in what you wrote.
I have seen artists who did not seem to make any statement with their art whatsoever, whose sole purpose was being offensive for the offence itself. I have also seen some art snobs who did not bother with even that, as a result of which I also think l’art pour l’art is a rather pointless circlejerk. Art is and should to me be a part of how people communicate. It should convey and evoke emotions, informations and make people feel and think. An art piece that makes most people go “meh” is fail at communication, and therefore a fail at art.
I also think that in order to be a good abstract artist, a person has to first manage to be a very, very good at the craft they are using, and if there is obviously skill acompanied with the artpiece, it seems to engage more people and engage them better, even if they find it disturbing (ugly, disgusging etc. -- see H. R. Giger for example), than when it is just disturbing but does not show any skill involved (Homer Simpson and his art creations).
Charly:
I know, I used it on purpose.
Therein is the big ol’ bugbear of art though, you can’t say that any one piece is a 100% meh for all people. Art isn’t just done for people at large, it’s primarily done for the artist. And yes, it is often a method of communication. Sometimes that communication can be a “meh” or a “shrug” or the like. Art is always a bit more complex than people think.
Anyway, as far as any shit is concerned, I think Mr. Beige is full of it, so he really shouldn’t mind any work reminiscent of shit. :D
Oh, and I wanted to ad that youtube opinion videos are in my opinion also a modern art form.
Charly:
Which is why I mentioned my opinion of Mr. Beige’s creative efforts. In short, they lack creative effort of any kind, which, for me, makes Mr. Beige even more unqualified to moan about art.
When you start mistaking your opinions about art for facts about art, then you’re, um… wrong.
OK, I’m not sure how to end that dictum on a strong note. But, eh, opinions are worth what it takes to make them.
Anything about art will always, always have a very strong subjective component. That is about the only reliable fact about art I am able to think about.
Charly:
That’s because it’s the only truth about art, all art. Over the years, I’ve had people ask the routine question: “what does it mean?” and I always find some way to dance my way out of answering. It sounds terribly trite to say “whatever it means to you”, but it’s true. That does not mean a piece doesn’t have a specific sense or meaning to me, they often do, but I prefer people to reach their own meaning, feelings, perspective, and ideas about a piece.
Not all artists are like that, many push their personal meaning, and get very twitchy if a viewer has a different idea about it. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s all subjective.
Typing as I watch:
1. You can make any text sound ridiculous by reading it in a certain way.
2. There’s texts meant to be said and texts meant to be read.
3. Yeah, I got a great look on that installation. Not.
4.Well, you cannot not communicate. Apparently what this piece of art said was “fuck off”.
5. Texts (and in cultural studies we’ll call everything a text) only exist in the relationship between the text and the reader. Maybe the problem here wasn’t the text?
6. I liked the party analogy. Maybe he’S the person showing up in the T-shirt?
7. Pleasing? Really? Maybe the whole world isn’t about you. I agree, there are pieces of modern art that don’t speak to me. There are pieces of old art that have nothing to say to me either. Yeah, some Duke of somewhere sometime…
8. Now, there’s a point about learning the craft. If you want to draw somebody who is stepping out of a boat then you should learn what the body looks like in that movement. But if that’s not your point, so what?
9. Dance like nobody is watching, remember that. A really good analogy, actually.
10. I agree the sculptures are amazing (and interesting), yet they leave pretty little room for your own ideas. They’re easily accessible and I don’t find them challenging. Maybe that sounds snobbish.
11. I looked at the titles of the other videos. Sounds like such a nice chap
Giliell, agreed on all points!
I didn’t enjoy that video. How could I, when it made no attempt to please me? It’s almost as though they had their own goals with the work, unrelated to me.
Greta Samsa @ 12:
:falls over laughing: Has anyone told you you’re brilliant lately?