unexpected art
Posted by: Wolf2 on 23 January 2009
What to do when people react negatively to something you really enjoy?
2 cases
I saw Francis Bacon's retrospective show at LACMA in 90. A friend in my grad class lived here in LA so stopped by to pick him up and his partner and a friend wanted to go. We knew what to expect, but the other two were horrified. It was too funny to see them take in these huge and often horrific images, esp the tryptic of his partner dying on the toilet. They were in the crowd and you could see them turn and practically jump back in shock. I laughed a few times watching them. One small piece I wanted for my own. it was a grassy field with vague trees behind and a dark shape between like a gorilla staring at you, very ominous, I suddenly felt like prey, and made the hairs stand up on my arms and neck, loved it. You don't get those kinds of reactions from pretty art. I told them Bacon was the Poe of art. They hated it. Oh well!
I also had been in Japan with a teacher's tour of gardens with 12 students. a year later LACMA had a great show of contemporary Japanese artists. It f---ing blew my socks off. All the students that went thought it was just awful, I told them they didn't know what they were talking about and apologized to Takeo, such a sweet man. He knew. But they relentlessly tried to cow me into an embarrassing situation of saying it was awful and and tasteless. Funny when people come up to something they don't expect and react wildly.
The rooms were typical large white boxes with these fantastic sculptures. One was a HUGE tree trunk laying on its side, but had been turned into a J. How the hell was that done? no marks on the trunk at all and commanding the center of the first room. I suspect soaking in water and slowly bending it into shape.
Another was a woman who bound palm fronds or fibers, into human size bundles and the info said she'd work them and wrestle them till she could do no more, each and a character of it's own. At the end of one narrow room and artist had taken wooden shipping flats all marred up and stacked them into a fan. Art Brute for sure.
I've not seen a show as impressive in a very long time, but boy did these characters hound me and tell me how awful it was. One minute I'm in a pack of friends and suddenly I'm an outcast. I'd hate to think what they'd be like with a pile of stones to throw. I just walked away. No sense in trying to educate them about my life long courses in art history from ancient to modern. Oh Well!
To think that they were Landscape Architecture students and should have some sense of art as they want to make a career out of styling someone's environment? I bet they'd never looked at Architectural Digest or taken an art history course. Some people think that's boring.
Any body else ever feel the sting of being outcast like that?
2 cases
I saw Francis Bacon's retrospective show at LACMA in 90. A friend in my grad class lived here in LA so stopped by to pick him up and his partner and a friend wanted to go. We knew what to expect, but the other two were horrified. It was too funny to see them take in these huge and often horrific images, esp the tryptic of his partner dying on the toilet. They were in the crowd and you could see them turn and practically jump back in shock. I laughed a few times watching them. One small piece I wanted for my own. it was a grassy field with vague trees behind and a dark shape between like a gorilla staring at you, very ominous, I suddenly felt like prey, and made the hairs stand up on my arms and neck, loved it. You don't get those kinds of reactions from pretty art. I told them Bacon was the Poe of art. They hated it. Oh well!
I also had been in Japan with a teacher's tour of gardens with 12 students. a year later LACMA had a great show of contemporary Japanese artists. It f---ing blew my socks off. All the students that went thought it was just awful, I told them they didn't know what they were talking about and apologized to Takeo, such a sweet man. He knew. But they relentlessly tried to cow me into an embarrassing situation of saying it was awful and and tasteless. Funny when people come up to something they don't expect and react wildly.
The rooms were typical large white boxes with these fantastic sculptures. One was a HUGE tree trunk laying on its side, but had been turned into a J. How the hell was that done? no marks on the trunk at all and commanding the center of the first room. I suspect soaking in water and slowly bending it into shape.
Another was a woman who bound palm fronds or fibers, into human size bundles and the info said she'd work them and wrestle them till she could do no more, each and a character of it's own. At the end of one narrow room and artist had taken wooden shipping flats all marred up and stacked them into a fan. Art Brute for sure.
I've not seen a show as impressive in a very long time, but boy did these characters hound me and tell me how awful it was. One minute I'm in a pack of friends and suddenly I'm an outcast. I'd hate to think what they'd be like with a pile of stones to throw. I just walked away. No sense in trying to educate them about my life long courses in art history from ancient to modern. Oh Well!
To think that they were Landscape Architecture students and should have some sense of art as they want to make a career out of styling someone's environment? I bet they'd never looked at Architectural Digest or taken an art history course. Some people think that's boring.
Any body else ever feel the sting of being outcast like that?