"Urban Intellectual Fodder":
There is a certain kind of art made here in America for a lofty but banal purpose: to enliven the contemporary educated mind.It may not occur to someone a bit younger than me, but there *are* reasons why I prefer The Stones to Arcade Fire, why I don't read current "literature" (as opposed to "genre" fiction), and why I'll wait for the DVD...
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It does not expand the borders of art or wreck the tyranny of the possible or enlarge our hungry little minds.
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It is art born of attitude, not passion. It is art that postures but doesn't grip. It is art created by those who are more passionate about a career in art than about art itself.
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Primarily, this is art that thinks about art. Art of the intellect, not the heart. Art done to bring us the smart, not the art.
The artists of Urban Intellectual Fodder act like art critics doing art -- they're better about their art than with it, better on their art than in it. Their art is done to show their smarts, and that's primarily what one gets from their art.
I'm with you on this one, Rick. When someone asks me to "defend" a picture or production I've made, I shut down. If I did (or could even do) what they wanted, I'd never have made the object in the first place.
ReplyDeleteYes. This reminds me of one of my favorite art-related quotes (yes, I actually have a few of those, left over from studying for my BFA). It's from George Santayana: "Nothing is really so poor and melancholy as art that is interested in itself and not in its subject."
ReplyDeleteGood one, Dave. And may I say how much I appreciated your performance piece last night? It was an inspired work of community-building Brechtian commentary and funny as all fuck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, guys. And, Dave, for the thousandth fucking time: do you have a blog or not (i.e. why am I blocked)?
ReplyDeleteRick, I haven't posted anything on my blog for about a year now so I made it private rather than have that same last post popping up every time someone logged on to it, reminding me of my failure. If I ever get it going again I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteGlenn, glad you enjoyed it. And since Rick may be curious (and since I'm pretty proud of myself) I'll explain: Last night at the World Famous Golden Lantern my partner and I convinced an entire bar full of patrons (20 or so people) to quickly and quietly sneak outside while the bartender was in the back room changing so when he came back he thought the Rapture had come or something. Good times.
Awesome, Dave.
ReplyDeleteDave, thanks for filling me in re: your blog. I was worried that maybe you were hiding behind a "wall" and talking about me! ;-) And thanks for sharing that story. Good one!!
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