What is art?

Zeke · 11-17-2010, 07:20 AM

Yesterday I had a pic removed that was of a car shaped to look like a penis. I have mentioned this car a few times. It was built on a TR3 chassis by Steven Hastings Paige in 1969. The rear of the car looked like a scrotum and the body, or shaft, had purple veins. The "nose" was interesting with the "one eye" being the radiator opening.

SHP is an obscure writer and artist whom I think dabbled in the rock band scene in Hollywood back in the days of the Whiskey a GoGo and Pandora's Box. I actually saw the Dickmobile as it was called, one night on Sunset Blvd. I got pretty excited (was probably drunk) and ran up to it while he was stopped in traffic. I was handed a poster/flyer that I have still to this day.

OK, that's the story as told here before at some point. Now the point is, what is art? If you saw the stage production of "Hair" in the same time period, you would know that it had nude performers and graphic choreography. Yes, it was performed inside, not on the street, so there is a difference. What was going on in that time was what is referred to as the sexual revolution. That was represented by the art of the day.

Fast forward through the decades of Hustler magazine, porn shops and the Internet, where do we stand? What is art and what is considered to be unacceptable porn?

BTW, I won't post a pic of the statue of David. Nor will I push the boundaries here with breasts behind a shear and wet piece of clothing with nipples standing "erect."

Even though there were some adults here at one time.

BeyGon · 11-17-2010, 07:28 AM

Milt
Nor will I push the boundaries here with breasts behind a shear and wet piece of clothing with nipples standing "erect."

But you could pm them to me, my wife doesn't look on here much.

vash · vash's Garage

even ART can offend people. didnt the catholic church put all the fig leaves over the peckers of all the statues? (i think this i what i heard on my drunken tour..italian wine = good).

to me, ART creates a "feeling" in people. so it is a really broad stroke of a definition. so a car that is made to look like a penis? that is really gonna take a big fig leaf!

audiman08 · 11-17-2010, 07:40 AM

Good question, we had a discussion similar to this in a graduate class I took. Of course, few people agree on what "art" is, but most people can agree on when art becomes pornography. I would probably say art becomes pornography when it is designed simply to arouse, or be deliberately graphic or shocking, rather than send a message of any kind. I don't think classical or Renaissance nudes (like David) were designed to incite lust or be deliberately offensive...but some may still be offended/aroused at ANY nude art. So defining pornography is easier but defining what "art" actually is, is much more difficult.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

To define "art" is like trying to define "pretty" or "rich".

Everyone has a different value for it. As a kid I though one hundred dollars was rich. Porn is a sliding scale as well. It all has to have a frame of reference.

Zeke · 11-17-2010, 07:54 AM

Brian, I can agree, but then disagree. I do think that art of the 60's and even 50's was designed to be "shocking." I might be offended by zombie "art" with smeared blood. A little far from the point at hand, but lots of art is intended to be anti culture, disturbing or many other things.

I do believe the way in which any art is displayed has everything to do with the appropriateness of the object that is being considered.

It all has to have a frame of reference.
Exactly.

Taz's Master · 11-17-2010, 08:08 AM

Fast forward through the decades of Hustler magazine, porn shops and the Internet, where do we stand? What is art and what is considered to be unacceptable porn?

I'm not convinced art and unacceptable porn are mutually exclusive. Just because it is art doesn't make something inoffensive or acceptable. I suppose rap can be considered an art form, but that doesn't make the lyrics any less offensive or inappropriate, and likewise just because someone (or even nearly everyone) takes offense, that doesn't disqualify an exhibition from being art.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 11-17-2010, 08:16 AM

I feel I wasted a couple of hours at an art museum today

Zeke · 11-17-2010, 08:21 AM

Taz, maybe I should have asked the question differently because you certainly make a point. Would you be kind enough to rewrite the question so that it addresses the issue of what is art and when does it get censored?

DanielDudley · 11-17-2010, 01:19 PM

I have seen the Maplethorpe book. Yeah it's art, and yeah it is shocking and beyond anything I could have imagined up until that time.

Does not belong in public.

Do I know what art is ? Heck no. Has art spoken to me ? Yes, and so has Bob.

DanielDudley · 11-17-2010, 01:25 PM

You know, I have seen pictures of the dead and dying of many wars, and in many circumstances. I am not sure we should ever try to become inured by an inundation of such images, particularly at a young age. OTOH, I watched a guy in a convenience store get all bent out of shape because there was a Maxim calender for sale near the register. A pretty girl in a halter top was what I saw. I think he saw hie daughter turning tricks or something equally provocative. Give me a break.

M.D. Holloway · 11-17-2010, 01:32 PM

My idea of art, but then again I always was a 'chest' man!

DARISC · 11-17-2010, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

I feel I wasted a couple of hours at an art museum today

OMG! NOOOO!

I know, Shaun - I'm way past due replying to your last email.

scottmandue · 11-17-2010, 02:26 PM

I went to the Rodin Museum in Philly.

I loved it.

My co worker said he must have been on acid.

The little old ladies next to me looking at a sculpture of two women taking a bath together mumbled "pornography"

Superman · 11-17-2010, 02:27 PM

A quote from my sister that has helped my appreciate for art ever since: "Art's value is in how it makes you feel when you view it."

Sometimes it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Christien · Christien's Garage

Just another opinion in an endless (and very useful, IMO) discussion: for me, one of the necessary qualities of art is that it makes you think, and challenges you to consider it. And often (though not always) that involves a re-thinking of something you previously believed, felt, etc. True, we don't need to think about many things that are considered art, but in my definition, that's a function of time. For example, we all know how to interpret classical sculpture, because it's become common knowledge, though at one point in time it made people think.

For me, this definition is useful, because it allows for a distinction between (to use an example given above) rap music and Stravinsky, where, in musical terms, the boundaries might be quite blurry.