General Chat

Do You think art galleries are relevant?

BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman has described the British public as "barbarians" who are too busy working to find time to appreciate art.
He lamented what he regards as Britain's obsession with TV during a talk on Victorian art given at the Hay Festival of Literature in mid-Wales.
Mr Paxman said: "Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing."
In January, thousands tuned into his BBC TV series on the Victorians.
His comments came in a discussion following his talk, when he was asked whether paintings in galleries needed to be better explained to people.
"I think that the basic problem is that we are all a bunch of barbarians really," he said.

More at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8075604.stm

What is art???


Someone, I can't remember his name at the moment, sent entered a urinal with his signature into some display/competition once. Was that art?

~~~~Cat

apparently the Men's toilets at the Philharmonic in Liverpool are something to be seen lol (no I haven't seen them lol)

Found it Marcel Duchamp.

Here's an article about it being named the most influential modern art work of all time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4059997.stm

until now :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/panoramas/philharmonic_pub_toilets_360.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesley :-)


Neither have I, thank god, lmao :-)

Edit: I have now lol

I prefer the pub's toilets Cat lol

It's a pity the ladies toilets aren't that fancy!

I went to the National Gallery in London last month, can't say what proportion of people there were British, but it was very busy . I think perhaps there is still a perception that 'art' is either 'highbrow' or simple 'rubbish' , but there is something for everyone imo.

Explanations do help, more to point out things you may miss , like similarities between the works of different painters of the same period .

I just like toilets to be clean lol


Now, I'm dragging the thread down, sorry lol


Some of us may be barbarians when it comes to art but first you have to answer the question 'What is art?' That isn't an easy question to answer as people will have different opinions on what art is.

I saw some Turner prize entries at the Liverpool Tate a couple of years ago. At the end of the exhibition there was a room where you could post comments giving your opinion of the exhibits. I said that the best entry was that room lol

I really think the word he meant to use was Phillistines, rather than barbarians........but then I get used to Jeremy Paxman spouting off now and again.....

......anyone remember him on WDYTYA........when the camera team asked him had his find out about his family changed his life......and he bawled at him.....NO, WHAT A STUPID QUESTION, OF COURSE IT HASN'T CHANGED ME......

Understand what he means, just don't like the way he puts himself across sometimes.....

......and he is right in my case.......yes, I go to art galleries like the Tate and Prado, and have been many times.......but I DO watch far too much telly.....

sally

Can't believe this thread's ten days old and I never spotted it! Something I always find a bit problematic (from an artist's point of view) is that it can seem really hard - to me, anyway - to find opportunities to show off your own work. I've approached a couple of galleries but they weren't interested in my work and sometimes you feel like you don't know exactly what you did wrong (ie. do they only display ceramics and you sent them photographs, or did your artist's statement sound too pretentious/too naive or just not "artistic" enough?).

I do think a lot of people might get put off by their perception of what they think an art gallery or museum is like - if you're a person who likes to look at things closely and all you can remember about anything "arty" is school trips where things were corded off and you were under orders not to touch, not to get too close and not to break anything I could see how that would stick in your mind and you might start thinking of museums and galleries as "boring" or "restrictive".

Perhaps it's also that the art that makes the headlines is often something like an unmade bed or a halved sheep and people that like, say watercolours or more crafty things don't feel like the famous art works are things that they can relate to?