Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Jack Burgess explains Contemporary Art

In the four minute video on Jack Burgess explaining contemporary art, he very briefly depicts how art has evolved, then describes how one must feel when encountering contemporary art for the first time, and finally what it is in order to better understand it and know what you're dealing with. He gives this explanation is a properly awkward manner, reflecting how one must feel when confronted with art they don't quite understand. It's amusing, getting a laugh or two out of me as I watched, and one could tell it was the aim of this short video to be both informative and entertaining.

I can't really think of any questions I have about it. It pretty much said everything it aimed to say in a short amount of time. I mean...can contemporary art be both intellectual and straightforward? It doesn't always have to seem like a different language, does it? I mean, if the symbols are practically universal and they're arranged in some obvious way, can it still be considered conceptual art if it makes sense right away? Okay, so maybe I had a few questions, but they weren't aimed towards the video exactly--just contemporary art in general.

I probably don't make contemporary art. I say 'probably' because I'm not sure how much of an influence that genre of art is having on my work lately. I'm making prints into sculpture, a possible stop motion video, and I want to present this in a 'fitting' environment {no white walls and bright lighting for me}. So taking all those things into consideration, is my manipulation o the environment and the position of these pieces influenced by the interactive nature found in contemporary art? I always thought of a gallery show as a perfect opportunity to make a set, like on stage. Whenever I imagined having my own show, I never wanted it to just be white walls with pieces tacked on to them and sculptures idling on white pedestals. I wanted the work to be present within the proper environments to enhance the experience they offer. I guess thinking about what could be done to best achieve this is a conceptual process. I don't know.

Either way, this was an entertaining watch. I wish more informational videos could be this amusing.

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