Digital BW, The Print

Mike,
Very well put!

Harvey Ferdschneider
partner, SKID photography, NYC

mh@... wrote:

>
> The "shocking" or controversial art that has received the art world's
> attention has actually been good art (in my opinion at least) that has
> value beyond being shocking. The manure piece that I mentioned is from
> an artist that, as far as I can tell, has not received the art world's
> praise (probably for good reason). I believe there are a lot of
> shocking works of art out there that we have never heard about because
> they have little to offer.  So in that sense, the art world is working
> I think.
>
> The people I find that don't like the more shocking yet praised artists
> are the people who either can't get beyond the shock value and think
> the artist's motives are purely for shock or fame (like most of the
> list members here I suppose) or are offended by the material/ don't
> want to deal with such issues in the art that they view (for example
> religion, animal rights, sexuality).
>
> You guys can't have it both ways, you're saying that the high-art world
> should concern itself with what appeals to the public at large but at
> the same time think that anything that appeals to the media is bad.
> Should we all take pictures of pretty flowers and paint watercolors of
> Cape Cod?  What appeals to the public is either folk art (craft) with
> very little substance or something that is interesting via shock,
> controversy, money, or fame. There are some exceptions of course, but
> you get the genereal idea.
>
> Everyone complains when art is too boring (black squares) and when it
> is too interesting (dead cows, vagina scrolls), where is the happy
> medium? I am hoping that the happy medium is upon us and that the too
> minimalist and too shocking periods are now in the past ; that the art
> world is looking to the future. Maybe we will fit in there.
>
> I hope I am not coming off as offensive to anyone here, I just like to
> voice the other side sometimes. A lot of times, the medium of
> photography gets a bad rap in the art world, and the more we can think
> in their terms, the better we will be, maybeÖ.     : )
>
> -mikeH
> toomanyartists.com


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