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Thread: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

  1. #1

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    Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    With the on going discussion and verbiage over "Print sold for 6.5 Million Dollars", The question of why.

    Visual arts much like music, math or other forms of human expression is a language. To gain fluency in any language requires time, effort, study and understanding of intellect to gain literacy in any of these means of human expression.


    Pop music, fast food, fashion trends and all that are similar are intended to appeal to the masses who have no interest to gain or appreciate the deeper meaning of what might be. Instead, the appeal and sales of these items rely on initial appeal and instant gratification. This appears to be the bulk of marketed products world wide. This is also where bulk sales produces much return on investment for their investors and all involved. Think of this as fleecing the flock.

    In the case of photographic images, it requires much study, sensitivity to what is being conveyed, and understanding to fully appreciate what the artist is trying to say with their work, deep fluency of the visual arts language with an appreciation of what is being said. This is often more than most would like to invest in these endeavors, for others it is their passion and calling in life.... limiting the number of individuals who deeply appreciate watch has been done.



    Bernice

  2. #2
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    I have a lot of sympathy with your claims Bernice, but you make it sound like people need a lot of special training before they can fully appreciate art.

    I'm curious if you think people without any formal education have a chance.

    Should we turn them away from a direct experience art, and toward school, books, and instruction?

  3. #3

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    Fully appreciate art with no formal or related education, ABSOLUTELY !!!

    Brett Weston is just one of many, many examples.

    Point being, appreciation of art and related human expression takes effort. Be that effort done as part of formal education or visiting exhibits or web search, it is a matter of exposure, sensitivity and working to understand what specific works are about and what might make them special.


    Bernice


    Quote Originally Posted by Heroique View Post
    I have a lot of sympathy with your claims Bernice, but you make it sound like people need a lot of special training before they can fully appreciate art.

    I'm curious if you think people without any formal education have a chance.

    Should we turn them away from a direct experience art, and toward school, books, and instruction?

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    Many photographers have espoused the view that the taking of an image should be intuitive. Why should the appreciation of an image be not also intuitive?
    van Huyck Photography
    "Searching for the moral justification for selfishness" JK Galbraith

  5. #5
    (Shrek)
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    If someone pays X $ for a print to frame and hang on their wall, I would hardly call that a fleecing. Peter Lik may indeed fleece his buyers if he tells them his prints are an investment.

    As for needing an education to appreciate the visual arts, what do I know? I didn't go to art school. I can still appreciate symbolism, etc. and situate works historically and in movements, without bothering with the art world meta that seems inseparable from anything from postmodern til now.

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    Peter Lik = Michael Jackson's Thriller album (sold about 50 million copies, churned a lot of dollars), what might be the difference?

    Compair Micheal Jackson's Thriller album sales to the sales number of any recording Saint-Saëns 3rd symphony. Michael Jackson sells millions, Saint-Saëns sells a few ten-thousand and it would be considered very successful.

    Point being, in music as much as in the visual arts, requires some degree of learning, understanding and appreciation to discern the difference. This belief and attitude often comes off as elitist and snobby, yet there are very real humanistic reasons why one of these musical works has stood the test of time and the other has not.



    Bernice



    Quote Originally Posted by Jody_S View Post
    If someone pays X $ for a print to frame and hang on their wall, I would hardly call that a fleecing. Peter Lik may indeed fleece his buyers if he tells them his prints are an investment.

    As for needing an education to appreciate the visual arts, what do I know? I didn't go to art school. I can still appreciate symbolism, etc. and situate works historically and in movements, without bothering with the art world meta that seems inseparable from anything from postmodern til now.

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    Careful, Bernice. The worms are wriggling out of the can.

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    Wiggling out of the can trying to find their way home.


    Bernice

    Quote Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble View Post
    Careful, Bernice. The worms are wriggling out of the can.

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    One of my favorite things to learn was that George Solti apparently once told the Chicago Symphony in a rehearsal that not more than 5% of the audience really understands what's going on, so what you (the players) do, you do it for yourselves.

    It's certainly not necessary to fully understand something to appreciate it, so sure, someone who's not educated or even informed can understand or appreciate anything, to some extent. However, the danger here is that all of us, we only know what we know, and there's a tendency to think what we know is all there is to know. From my experience, that's wrong, wrong, wrong.

    But most people still believe that. Especially the most vocal ones saying that they do get it, all, already--those are the ones who get it the least. Here's the definitive work in that area: http://psych.colorado.edu/~vanboven/...er_dunning.pdf
    Further amusement: some of the dumbest people I know have been the most vocal in protesting this article, just as the writers would probably suggest, so watch how you respond. :-)
    Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
    Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
    Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
    You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear

  10. #10

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    Re: Language of Images, of Art, of human expression.

    I'm having a lot of trouble getting past the "elitist, snobby" ideas in this thread. Mdarnton's story about Solti is interesting, but how about Toscanini conducting, he was famous for "singing" along with the music, a purely emotional response to something he loved. I'm not sure how much music theory one needs to love, lets say, classical music. I don't even know where I fit in the spectrum described in this thread, I know zip about music theory, can't play an instrument, but grew up with a mother who as a professional ballerina had performed all over the world, and a father who took me to my first opera probably before I was a teenager. So no formal training, but a lot of exposure. Would someone with musical training "get" more out of a composition? Probably, but I'm not sure they would get more enjoyment out of listening.

    And I worry about the Michael Jackson - St. Saens comparison. When I go to any classical music performance, I have a hard time finding many young people in the audience (and I certainly am not young). There is a real concern that classical music won't be able to support itself in another generation, while it is possible that Michael Jackson will still be remembered. Cage, and even Stravinsky, have not replaced Beethoven, but I'm not sure how much longer any of them will be listened to by more than a small niche audience.

    Yes, we find Mr. Lik's work to be kitsch, but then I suspect we are going too far in the other direction, essentially (but not quite saying it out loud) complimenting ourselves on our superior aesthetic taste, reinforcing how we are different from "them" (those suckers who buy Lik's works).

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