The Art of Art

Seeing George Maciunas’ diet presented in a piece representative of the Fluxus exhibit begged the question, “what is art?”  It shows how we change our perceptions of art, aesthetics, and beauty over time, even if individuals don’t consider it art.  The organization of the food containers looked like panels of printed paper from afar and not just piles of food.  Whether to consider this art is subjective, but the piece is nonetheless revealing of his life and his perceptions.

Jackson Pollock

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From the widely known works of Jackson Pollack and De Kooning to the lesser known Rothko and Hofmann, the Abstract Expressionism exhibit reflects the post-World War II art movement, a movement challenging the way people perceived art and how to portray figures and landscapes.  Pollack’s work has such interesting texture, certain color, and certain movement that gives it a certain mood.  To me all of his works basically look the same yet produce a slightly different mood with varying color choices.

Pousette-Dart

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The artist that I enjoyed the most was Pousette-Dart whose pieces were colorful and intricate, conveying a certain feeling and distorting shapes in some chosen curves and lines.  Many look like machines, reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s surrealism, and are abstract yet provide a perception of depth and layers.

Then there were the sculptures that looked strange and unseemly, yet were supposed to be the artist’s reflection of a body or an object.  There was a room that was mostly blocks of color with a line or two on the canvas; one “piece of art” appeared to be a wooden stick painted black and tacked on to the wall.  It is easy to say that a five year old could have done some of these, and I concur with that sentiment for art like the stick.  Yet the lines or colors are probably chosen purposefully, and observing them up close helps one appreciate the texture in the canvas.  But that stick just seemed to have drips of paint.

The “On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century” exhibit produced some interesting three dimensional works as well as interesting two dimensional works all playing with form and space.  Incorporating video and modern dance, this exhibit captured both still and moving image, the most questionable of which was the nude, tortured looking woman who attached herself to a harness of paper covered walls, and drew on them.  Perhaps it is the method that makes the art, and the end piece may be called art, but that simply doesn’t make it enjoyable or thought provoking.