Tag: The Stuckists

Thoughts on art No. 1: The Turner Prize, The Stuckists and what do we want from artists.

“Art is worth the consciousness that it raises.”

The Turner prize stinks say the Stuckists.  

The Turner prize is great say others.

What do they, and we, want from our artists and their art?

‘Thoughts on art No. 1’ – in a nutshell:  

Just what do we expect from an artist?  What do we have the right to expect?  Are we asking too much?  

In a world of increasing billions of communications isn’t an artist that informs you just a little bit more about

a) being human,

b) his/her being human

c)  or being human in the world with others worth his/her salt?

This is another way of saying that art is worth the consciousness that it raises.

For example two artists help me experience space differently and think about it differently are  Rachel Whiteread and Antony Gormley

 

'Ghost by Rachel Whiteread. The presence of a room without the room, a memory that fills a space such a room occupied.
'Ghost by Rachel Whiteread. The presence of a room without the room, a memory that fills a space such a room occupied. WikiPedia

 

 

Space, (ghosts of) people in space and the inner space of people.
Antony Gormley's 'Domain Field' Space, (ghosts of) people in space and the inner space of people - and memory.

 SOURCE

 

Of course the two artists I chose are somewhere between very good and great.  But even if they were students showing just single pieces of their work it wouldn’t make any difference.

The gain was in and  around –  ‘space – being human – memory’ – i.e. a deepening and widening of consciousness. 

Whiteread and Gormley –  are both important to me for reasons other than  ‘space – being human – memory‘ but just for extending, deeping, enjoying the resonances of that area, “Thanks – many, many thanks –  I’m so glad I came across you.”