In short, NO. I could leave it there and walk off and enjoy my weekend, but every observation is made through individual eyes and minds and needs interpreting and translating, just like art and don’t we all do that every day? Some people can be quite unpleasant about art followers. There will be some reading this post that observe people in galleries and think “let’s just be clear here, these fools have stood like nut job wine connoisseurs for 4 minutes snuffling, slurping and spitting over a small photograph in an oversized frame, of an old man standing in a doorway. I could do that and stick it up there and make “miwions†Rodney!†Maybe you could, but you’ve missed the point of art, and you need to shift your perspective.
But I suppose some people are put off by the “art speakâ€, like the  wine connoisseur mentioned before muttering “oh yes…intricate, plum and toilet brush on the nose, with PVC, slurrrrp, leather, farmyard, and syrup on the mid-palate, and a long… thwaaa….sumptuous finishâ€. It can be off-putting to some but that’s how they enjoy wine, it’s probably not your way. My way is to get sloppy with the measurements most nights.
So maybe the art world isn’t vocalising clearly the many different reasons we can enjoy art. Painters, sculptors, poets, etc capture an object, a moment in time or a dream and they interpret and translate it though their medium of choice so that we can all observe it and discuss or make comments, swear at it even, but it stirs emotion, and that’s why for me (apart from the aesthetic appeal) art is so important and enjoyable. Art comes in many forms and some may not have been “obvious†art. Everyone can appreciate the beauty of a piece of footage in a movie of an Autumnal wind-swept coastline and waves smashing against a rugged shoreline – this is art of a kind in the same way Emin’s My Bed is. They both provoke a feeling within us, make us reflect. I personally don’t like My Bed…my daughter has one in her bedroom (perhaps without the vodka bottles, cigarette butts and I blooming hope, pregnancy tests…) and it creates arguments!
“ART – the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.â€Â Wikipedia
Painter, Poet, Illustrator and Steward, Alasdair Urquhart mentioned “…we are all here to inspire and be inspiredâ€. So true; his Cornish seascapes inspire me to purchase one, frame it, then move there to hang in my cottage on the cliff, before relaxing to his poem, Gratitude: An Eternal Tide with a tot of dark rum in hand to snuffle and slurp (but definitely not spit).
So, is understanding art an exclusive club? Click here to make a comment on the original blog
