Monday 28 October 2013

Grayson's What is Art

Grayson’s What is Art
I remember having to think about this questionas part of a research project I undertook while I was studying at Exeter. As it was about video art I decided to undertake a series of video interviews asking the question “what is art?” It happened to be good fun, and I even managed to interview Godfrey Warsdale, who was then the Curator of Southampton City Art Gallery.  But thinking back no one came up with the range of boundaries our recent Reith Lecturer Grayson Perry identified.
I don't remember much about the outcome of the interviews except that all pretty much agreed that art is communication. Grayson briefly referenced this in his repeat of a quote that art had to be about something, that it should encourage a call and response reflex, reference a historical context and generally have something to say. So, lots of different types of communication, but the rest of the lecture seemed to brush this piece of academic theory aside.
Instead, Grayson moved on to discuss the more visual aspects of identifying what is art, ie size, the familiar, endorsement and the price tag!
Interestingly, on reflection my pursuit of what is art left me with a positive feeling about who I was and what we were all doing.  However, I think Grayson’s was far nearer the truth. Again we laughed, but it was uncomfortable.
In this age of instantness we no longer want to think. Instead we need a quick way to identify/label something. Passing through the gift shop on the way out and picking something up as we do - our own personal response to what we've seen.
This ironic critic of art was explored in the film titled Exit Through the Gift Shop. In the film we meet Thierry Guetta a French immigrant in Los Angelas and learn about his obsession with street art. It’s a documentary about someone obsessed with documenting what he sees – sounds familiar. It’s pretty harmless and he eventually meets his hero Banksy.
This is the turning point in the story. Banksy suggests that Thierry should make his own art and the result is a breath taking twist in the plot, which is both devastating and very funny. Because here the film plays with the idea that everyone can be an artist.  That everyone can hit the big time and make their fortune, in this case on the back of art.  But it is the final comment by Banksy that leaves you not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Thierry’s success as a result of his hero’s advice leaves the hero to despair and the conclusion that he will never tell anyone to make art again.
I suppose like Banksy I believed that art is about communication and therefore enjoyed others ability to express their ideas, themselves and their creativity visually. It doesn’t make them an artist, but it does help them to appreciate art and understand something about being an artist through the process of doing. However, that’s the theory; the reality is a little different.

Friday 11 October 2013

Some thought on Weymouth’s Big Draw Exhibition

The Big Draw is the flagship programme by the national campaign for drawing. Its aim is to encourage everyone to draw during this October festival. Going since 2001, I was aware of it whilst working in Southampton. So I was keen to take part once Weymouth Life Drawing Group had become established. Mostly publicly funded organisations take part, such as museums and galleries, but there are plenty of art groups that also get involved. It's a good opportunity to let everyone know what you've been doing, in order to trying and avoid the all too tempting apathetic  -can't be bothered inclination -  and just let the sketches pile up under the bed or in a cupboard.
Therefore, the group have used the Big Draw campaign to dig out some of their hard work and put it up on display for others to view, and maybe thereby encourage them to give it a go as well.
The Mulburry gallery, in Weymouth library, is an excellent space for putting up lots of stuff; mixing a variety of approaches to the classic nude problem, and hopefully encouraging those that are interested to spend time really looking - and hopefully thinking.
So Weymouth’s Big Draw has two objectives. Firstly, to get those who already draw reflecting on their own practice; looking at it again, through the process of preparing it for display and by placing their work next to someone else’s. Secondly, by putting the work in a public place, to encourage others to stop and consider having a go. It might not happen today. It might not happen tomorrow, but hopefully something will grow.
Is drawing important? Yes, drawing helps you relax, think and is a useful tool for communication.  And for all of those reasons and much more its well worth doing - and not enough people do. Including many artists! The all too easy temptation is to say you can’t, when you could if you tried. This isn't surprising when schools employ art teachers who insist that only the gifted can draw. This just isn't true. The myth about drawing has to end so that everyone can realise what they're missing. Example - included in the exhibition is work by Edith Cory King who died this year at the age of 89. Edith wasn't a great artist and she wasn’t that great at drawing, but she enjoyed it.  Loved the challenge it presented her.  Only at the very end did physical ill health get in her way. And her mind, from all the drawing problem solving she was doing, was more agile than most. Proof, I think, that drawing has at least one benefit. It keeps you mentally young. And Edith always felt it motivated her day - quite remarkable at such an advanced age. And even more thought provoking is that the final images she produced have a magical quality that go way beyond her artistic limitations.
So if that doesn't inspire you to have a go I really don't know what will.
http://www.susanrhughes.co.uk/section675723.html