1 Equivalent VIII –Carl Andre
2 My Bed –Tracey Emin
3 Shed-Boat-Shed and, Tabernas Desert Run–Simon Starling
4 The Dark Knight Strikes Again (selected pages)–Frank Miller
5 Kissing Coppers –Banksy
I am presenting these images together to illustrate my view that the mainstream Fine Art World has, by intellectualising and pseudo-intellectualising contemporary art, alienated the General Public and, through doing this, missed a trick. It has missed out on artists who, due to this, do not want anything to do with it.
My definition of the “Fine Art World” is fairly uncontroversial; I would say that it would be agreed on by the general public. I include the Academic Art Establishment, i.e. Universities and Galleries, The Fine Art Press and The Broadcast Arts media; those who make their living talking and writing about Art. When I talk about the general public, I am going on my own reading of the media reaction and my recollection of the events and what other people have said, but I did use my family to help me confirm my choice of my first two images, by asking them what they thought of when they thought of “modern art”. I tried not to lead them, which is how I know that Carl Andre’s piece is known as the Tate Bricks.
The furore over The Tate’s acquisition of Carl Andre’s Equivalent VIII (said Tate Bricks) is, for me, the turning point when the British press’s ridiculing of the piece and the failure of the Art World to get its side of the argument across, seems to cause the Art World to give up on the General Public. Until this point, the fine art world did not have its defensive air, it let artists’ work undergo public scrutiny and sink or swim in their own right. It may have been disagreed with but it didn’t seem to take it ‘personally’.
From hereon, as a reaction to the assault of the popular press, the fine art world started to define itself as “Other” to the press. It rejected the populist, the figurative and technical proficiency that the press valued. In doing this, it has proved them right; it actually became what the press said it was.
I have included Tracey Emin’s “My Bed” because it represents the public’s idea of contemporary art. Also because she, alongside Damien Hurst, is the most famous of the Young British Artists who were patronised by Charles Saatchi.
Saatchi legitimised the Art World’s position by adding serious money to the equation. His patronage of Contemporary Art the power to be able to be independent of public opinion. Finally, Fine Art no longer had to worry about the public and its opinion. Charles Saatchi seems to have somehow created what seems to be a self-sustaining bubble effect.
The Art World is understandably reluctant to kill its golden goose, by debunking the myth that the only valid art is difficult art; art which has to be explained or, better still, which repels people. Especially as the people who are prepared to follow Saatchi’s lead seem to be rich people buying Art as status symbols. To me it has a very strong feeling of the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’.
During the period between these two pieces, Conceptual Art has come to dominate the Contemporary Art World. Along with Abstract work, it has almost completely displaced Figurative art. Originally the outsider that stunned and terrified the establishment, it has now become the Fine Art mainstream. The closed-mindedness that it overhauled when it opened the worlds eyes to the possibilities and concepts, has not disappeared. It has just turned around and swallowed it whole and closed back up.
It is like the end of George Orwell’s Animal Farm; all the hopes of a radical movement have seemingly been washed away by power and money. Which was almost inevitable; a repeat of what has happened time and again in the history of Fine Art, a shunned movement has become the establishment. Like Communism that Orwell was parodying. The Art World has built a wall around itself, in fear of criticism, and a lack of faith in its own judgement rather than taking the fight to its critics.
Another major point that has alienated the Public, is the loss of the craft side of art; the feeling that the artist himself has not done anything. The main complaint is either that there is no skilled work in a piece, or that the artist has left it all up to professional artisans and then taken all the credit. It is accepted that artists have always relied on others in some part of the process, like making pigments or casting bronzes. Indeed human society is founded on specialisation but, having found objects copied and cast, as Damien Hurst and others have done, feels to many people like cheating.
The phrase most often heard is “I could’ve done that”. Critics and curators often try to say that this is a positive thing, bringing people closer to Art; stripping away the class barriers of art. I disagree; while the idea of breaking down the barrier awe is an idea of merit, I do not think the barriers were between the artists and the public but between the owners, critics and the public. People appreciate Artists; they like to feel that work has gone into a piece. They feel kinship to Art it because, while they appreciate skill, they know about hard work; the idea of an artist getting paid to do almost nothing galls. The most obvious parallel is sport, particularly football. People are inspired by Zinedine Zidane’s genius to go out and play football in the park and they appreciate him because they know what it is like to try to run after a ball, but Gary Lineker, while an England hero, will always be regarded as a bit of a goal hanger.
I’ve included Simon Starling’s pieces from the 2005 Turner prize because they sort of show how you need both. There is no doubt that he put in the hard work but people fail to see the skill. The quality is academic not aesthetic and again, the public’s alienation of the Contemporary Fine Art perpetuated.
I finish with two examples that show artists who address contemporary issues, have found popular audiences and critical acclaim, completely bypassing the “Fine Art World”
The first of these two, Frank Miller, has gained a major public audience for his Art, using the Comic book as his medium. He is credited with the growing up of the comic book, when he gave us The Dark Night Returns 1987. It is a work that is partially responsible for the saving the Comic genre and that ultimately triggered the spate of Comic adaptation films, including one of his own: “Sin City”. He also seems unafraid of bucking trends or upsetting fans. In the eighties and nineties, he showed the dark potential of the comic medium, then returned in the 21st century to play with what he calls DC’s toys and continued his biting satire by embracing the ‘camp’ side of the comic book hero.
When working with Batman, Miller uses the platform to reach a wider audience. He takes what he sees in the world, particularly the mass media extrapolates it to a perverse but not too far –fetched conclusion, back within the DC world both Dark Knight (Batman) books are set in a near but undetermined future. Miller effectively uses a tradition of Batman graphic novels, whereby they do not need to follow the chronology or precise storyline of the monthly comic magazines; he gives them a grittiness that hits home, making them relevant to real life.
My last image is instantly recognisable as much from his medium as his style. I first became aware of Banksy around the year 2000, when my girlfriend of the time pointed his work out to me. She and I worked in the Shoreditch area, where much of his work is to be seen. If you do not know his work, he is a graffiti artist/ vandal and iconoclast, whose work satirises the modern world He is flippantly controversial in his medium and subject and has no qualms in ridiculing or offending common decency but, does not seem to seek to appal. He does not intellectualise his work, it is not obscure; it is direct and has popular appeal. He has seemingly caught the Art World completely unaware, gradually breaking on to the mainstream by virtue of word-of-mouth and lots of hard work and creativity, avoiding the Gallery system and Art criticism. It could be said that his work is reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp and Dadaism but I think he would nod, smile and call you a "tosser" behind your back
When asked if graffiti is art or vandalism, his response is:
“That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don't like to use the word 'art' at all”
Bibliography
Equivalent VIII –Carl Andre 1966 Tate Britain
http://www.tate.org.uk/
downloaded December 2006d
My Bed –Tracey Emin 1999 Saatchi Gallery
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ downloaded December2006
Shed-Boat-Shed and Tabernas Desert Run –Simon Starling 2005 Tate Britain
http://www.tate.org.uk/ downloaded December 2006
Kissing Coppers –Banksy 2003
http://www.banksy.com/ downloaded January 2007
Dark Knight Strikes Again –Frank Miller © DC Comics 2002
http://moebiusgraphics.com/ downloaded January 2007
dates checked using
http://www.google.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.tate.org.uk/
