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It's a form of fetish. You see it in programming cirlces too. Obfuscated C program contests, etc. You're really into something and can't get enough of it. You

It's a form of fetish. You see it in programming cirlces too. Obfuscated C program contests, etc. You're really into something and can't get enough of it. You explore it from any angle. You make up angles. You extrapolate.

theoh 10y ago
So just what is it that the Art World is really into? It's not beauty, it's not the prestige of institutions, it's not really money. I think it's cleverness/chic and a kind of cult of the artist as someone with greater insight than the rest of us?
- lawpoop 10y ago
  Art. The Art World is really into Art. Just like programmers are into programming.
  - theoh 10y ago
    That's not helpful, because since the 60s, art can be anything the artist claims as art.
    - lawpoop 10y ago
      I think the modern art period can be traced back to the 1920s, but anywho, there is also the component of reception. It's not just what the artists says, but if the Art World receives it as such. Actually it turns out wikipedia traces modern art back to the 1860s.
    - lawpoop 10y ago
      To be more serious, it's not that the artist has more insight than the audience, but rather the arists initiates a dialogue with the audience intended to /raise questions/, possibly to arrive at new insights. To quote Picasso, apropos of a technology discussion board: "Computers Are Useless. They Can Only Give You Answers." Art poses questions. Modern Art as we know it today is the freest field of human inquiry. There are no restrictions, really, on subject or medium. It's completely open. Of course, for that reason, it is the least secure in what it communicates. All other human endeavors of understanding have internal restrictions, for good reason. Math, science, history, scholarship, they all have rules that defines what is and what is not valid, relevant information and understanding. With these restrictions, you get certainty and definitiveness. The modern field of art, being free from such constraints, can address more topics in more varied ways, but in exchange for that freedom, it gives up certainty and focus. The question "What is Art?" cannot really be answered, and is actually irrelevant to the field itself.

theoh 10y ago

So just what is it that the Art World is really into? It's not beauty, it's not the prestige of institutions, it's not really money. I think it's cleverness/chic and a kind of cult of the artist as someone with greater insight than the rest of us?

lawpoop 10y ago
Art. The Art World is really into Art. Just like programmers are into programming.
- theoh 10y ago
  That's not helpful, because since the 60s, art can be anything the artist claims as art.
  - lawpoop 10y ago
    I think the modern art period can be traced back to the 1920s, but anywho, there is also the component of reception. It's not just what the artists says, but if the Art World receives it as such. Actually it turns out wikipedia traces modern art back to the 1860s.
  - lawpoop 10y ago
    To be more serious, it's not that the artist has more insight than the audience, but rather the arists initiates a dialogue with the audience intended to /raise questions/, possibly to arrive at new insights. To quote Picasso, apropos of a technology discussion board: "Computers Are Useless. They Can Only Give You Answers." Art poses questions. Modern Art as we know it today is the freest field of human inquiry. There are no restrictions, really, on subject or medium. It's completely open. Of course, for that reason, it is the least secure in what it communicates. All other human endeavors of understanding have internal restrictions, for good reason. Math, science, history, scholarship, they all have rules that defines what is and what is not valid, relevant information and understanding. With these restrictions, you get certainty and definitiveness. The modern field of art, being free from such constraints, can address more topics in more varied ways, but in exchange for that freedom, it gives up certainty and focus. The question "What is Art?" cannot really be answered, and is actually irrelevant to the field itself.