We had a workshop with Stuart on Object and Subject in Art and Film. We went through several pieces of contemporary art as well as some animated films and discussed interpretations of the subjects/objects. In all honesty I find the analysis of a lot of highly regarded art very boring. For example Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain is brought up in every art course I’ve ever taken, and I get it. It’s subversive, it is an icon of dadaism, it redefined what art truly is. So what.
I love that we as human express ourselves in so many different ways, and I can of course, acknowledge that everyone will receive art differently but so much of this so called great art makes me feel nothing. It is always the same pieces over and over again and I just don’t care about them. I appreciate the academic value of art that requires analysis and thought, however for myself, personally, there has to be some entertainment value, or else, I’m not going to bother thinking about it. It can be as confusing and open to interpretation as possible but if it it boring it’s not going to live in my head. I can live not pondering the meaning of a random urinal.
On a less cynical note, the film we were shown by Max Hattler, AANAATT, really piqued my interest. The way the shapes flowed almost mechanically with no evident purpose or structure, yet things kept changing and happening in response, evoked the image of bodily functions. The brain sending signals to release hormones, and those molecules just floating around the body until they happen to latch on to their purpose. It was very calming and rhythmic, and still visually complex and interesting.
