Can blowing raspberries be classed as art?

[bobby1]

Remember when someone nailed 2 blocks of wood together and the art world went all doolally fawning over the "artist"?
The Sun nailed 2 blocks of wood together and tried to sell it to the Tate but they said it was't art!!!

A perfect example of the bollox that is 'art'

[RED-DOG]

Does it matter which part of your body the raspberries come from? I may have hidden talent!

[bobby1]

and I would be the 2nd coming of DaVinci, with my own film and everything.........I wouldnt mind but he never even had a code......

[tikay]

"I mess up Stick men".....!

"Modern" Art - or is it Modern "Art" - is above me, I'm afraid. I have a suspicion that it's the Emporor's Clothes thing. But the Art World could never admit to being duped, so Art it is.

I cannot ever imagine believing in Modern Art, any more than I could ever accept that Astrology makes an iota of sense, that ghosts exist, or that aliens have visited us. Then again, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not believe a TV Pcture could squeeze down that tinsy little wire, or that I could sit in front my PC & play poker against players from every Continent, in real time.

[thetank]

I don't consider myself to be part of the "art" world. Yet I can still appreciate some modern art.

What is art, in the traditional sense?
An accurate portrayal on canvas of a real life scene? A pretty picture that some guy in a beret has conjured?
That used to be a very special, much sought after, talent. Back when Tikay was a pup and no bugger had a camera phone. In this day and age, practically everybody has the facility to take a photograph, so there's not nearly as much demand for portrait or landscape painters as there was in days gone by. (Photography, in itself, is a form of art. Let's just forget that for now though.)

Modern art, for me, is anything that makes me stop and look. Something that can inspire thought, something that has contradictions, a pile of crap that represents something else. There is no right or wrong for me as for what is art and what is not. Some things that I consider to be masterpieces, might be widely thought of as pisch, and vice versa.

But thats ok, that's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned. Some of my favourite pieces of "art" are those that represent man's ability to think for himself. I also love the contradiction of a montrosity that is ugly and awkward at first glance, but contains beauty if you look deeply enough.

One final point in my rant. It doesn't have to be in a museum to be art. A lot of design of things such as logos might be considered modern art in a broad definition of the term.

[bobby1]

Can I be awkward again and say that some people use the word 'art' to describe things that are interesting to look at....the fact they are interesting doesnt make them 'art'

[thetank]

How would you define art then? Does it need to hang on a wall, or rest atop a plynth?

I'm in hippy wierdo mood, and from the best definition of art that I've heard, everything in this wonderful world could be described with the 'A' word.

With the possible exception of fatal car crashes. They are interesting to look at, but the familys of the deceased may be nay too happy if I ponced around in a frock declaring it art from yonder hilltop.

Even if I donated half my Turner Prize winnings to the "Drive Properly Foundation"

[bobby1]

How would you define art then? Does it need to hang on a wall or rest atop a plynth?

I'm in hippy wierdo mood, and from the best definition of art that I've heard, everything in this wonderful world could be described with the 'A' word.

My point exactly........

[Sark79]

"I mess up Stick men".....!

"Modern" Art - or is it Modern "Art" - is above me, I'm afraid. I have a suspicion that it's the Emporor's Clothes thing. But the Art World could never admit to being duped, so Art it is.

I cannot ever imagine believing in Modern Art, any more than I could ever accept that Astrology makes an iota of sense, that ghosts exist, or that aliens have visited us. Then again, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not believe a TV Pcture could squeeze down that tinsy little wire, or that I could sit in front my PC & play poker against players from every Continent, in real time.

I share the same beliefs with alot of what your post says. 

"I mess up Stick men".....!   =  I draw stick men with squint lines. That's how bad an artist I am 

[AndrewT]

In some respects, Tikay is right - a lot of modern art is just Emperor's New Clothes, in the most literal sense. However, to brandish it all as rubbish does it a disservice. Some modern art is created just to make a point (conceptual art) - like the piece regarded as the first modern art, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain - it doesn't have any artistic merit. The problem with these pieces is that the idea behind them must be really, really good if they are to have any worth.

The street artist Banksey was mentioned earlier, and it's interesting to compare some of his stuff. On the wall next to the River Thames, on the South Bank just beside Westminster Bridge, at a point which is usually taken up by tourists, standing with their back to Big Ben, whilst they have their photo taken, Banksy has sprayed the message 'This is not a photo opportunity'. His point is obvious (don't just collect snapshots of the tourist attractions - actually look at them and appreciate them as interesting objects), but there is no actual technical artistic merit behind it - anyone can spray a phrase on a wall. Personally, I love this - it made me smile when I saw it, as it made a good point, but it's not a piece of art to sit and contemplate - you get the joke and move on.

He went over to Israel and put a series of images on the 'security wall' which divides the West Bank (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm) which again had a 'point', but this time the images themselves had some artistic merit - they were interesting to look at, even out of context of the situation they were in.

It's mostly conceptual art that people have problems with as a lot of it is, well, lazy rubbish. But not all of it is.

[Sark79]

Yea I like that type of art. It is clever