Wednesday, June 17, 2009

"Here’s the new art of the twenty-first century: the art of curating, the art of plucking all the good stuff from a superabundance of crap… Why should you watch something that’s not great?"
— Joseph Gordon-Levitt

4 comments:

J. C. said...

Considering how much of your blog has been selection, this is a bit self-serving, isn't it?

Not sure whether I agree, either. The 'good stuff' has to be there to be plucked from the crap, and the art of making it must still be overwhelmingly important. And the whole thing is hardly a new situation, rather an attempt to reassert the old way, in which a few authorities dictated taste, upon a new situation.
Granted, it is an attempt to make of that selection something great, to consciously take it. But that's a much more limited statement.

phidgyboy said...

JC-first thanks for the 1st of hopefully many comments!

It seems lately that the art championed ( comfortable with) IS about the curating-
Accumulative-(sight specific in many cases)-found detritus attractively arranged with the morale and aesthetic judgment of a tasteful
interior decorator.
Perfect for our cultural moment-attractive-made from bits and pieces-gathered to pretend it has meaning.Rather like our politics Yes?

J. C. said...

I assume by this you mean things like remixes and the like. In which case, the medium may be found objects but ideally the medium is not the message; i.e. the arrangement itself is meant to be art. Just as we would not refer to a painter, who arranges, as you say, colored paint on a canvas, as a curator, so someone who uses more 'finished' objects in his work can be called an artist rather than a curator.

There are similarities - each is about finding pieces and arranging them for an effect. The effect sought, however, for a curator is to bring out the meaning of each piece rather than construct something new from them.

The comment about the politics I rather fail to understand - I refuse to believe that politics have gotten especially shallower now than they had previously been.

Anyway, would've replied sooner, but I was busy yesterday.

phidgyboy said...

JC! Sorry for the delay-botched upload etc-The latest post just after the Hemingway comic might better explain my thoughts-
Politics.Hmmm
I feel what I'm trying to get at is that recent politics seems more blase, workman-like.Seems random,patched together.Looks engaged.Looks new.
IE:CHANGE. But more to me, it seems, a mere reflection of past movements and energy. No one cares. No ones committed.No ones angry.