What does a work of art do? We’ve gotten over the notion that art is a pointless luxury purchased with what’s left over after closets are full of furs and seven car garages stuffed with exotic iron, but what is its function day to day? Oh, the smart set may drop a couple of hundred thou on some smear any talented grad student could reproduce, and probably did, but such trade seems frivolous and silly to the average citizen. Art as an investment seems cavalier even to those who value risk, and without any control, really, regarding authenticity it makes no sense at all.
As decoration all that stuff in frames that ‘looks like art’ from factory outlets claiming to represent starving artists has that look about it, and for good reason. At the other end are sweat-shop conditions for people who, as a fact, are paid rather poorly. Even high quality reproductions of great works of art don’t lie very well, and aren’t likely to draw attention away from tasteful drapes and carpeting. Original art, on the other hand, exerts an influence over the room it’s in.
Does it compete with sixty inches of hyper-intense, slo-mo replay, guns a poppin’, burgers and pickups -- not much does including sunsets and waterfalls, but sometimes it’s off and art on the wall is a constant presence, drawing our attention and influencing how we see. With no wires or external source of energy art offers the example of directed focus and applied attention, and that’s not without value in a land of digitalized mass-produced everything. As a fact it’s this 3-D printed, special effects enhanced, hand-held ‘looking-glass’ reality we’ve wandered into that makes original art so potent.
Art is a bit of protein in the high-fat, artificially sweetened comfort diet of modern living, and it’s going to taste pretty good even with a mediocre cook. Excellent art, you get to choose, will help stave off the soft bones and ego-depletion that being caught in traffic twice a day, endless tail-chasing conferences, and office pecking orders can bring on. This quality of visual art, this rejuvenation of the senses and grounding for the personality haven’t been emphasized much because salesmen are generally uncomfortable with those issues. Salesmen would rather refer to bluebook listings and cite reputation, prices at auction, and maybe offer you a deal because you got this special appreciation -- such as that.
Art is a machine, a technology from a different era perhaps, but one that still operates, still influences and enhances its owner’s perception and thought process, and all it needs to work is to be seen everyday.
1 comment:
That stuff that "looks like art" is not just found in the starving artist outlets - I saw plenty of it in high end Canyon Rd. galleries in Santa Fe (for instance). Still an excellent point that living with original art pays dividends beyond it's purchase price. Steve "Anonymous" Armstrong
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