Ok, so it's saturday I know, procrastinating just doesn't work out as well on Friday nights. Anyways I got some thoughts to spit on Beuys, so here it goes. Generally I feel extremely different than Beuys when create my artwork. When I draw or paint, I focus almost exclusively on the aesthetics of the piece as opposed to the reaction it my draw from the viewer. I like for my art to be able to be 'understood' without a context, but this is not to say I discredit conceptual art; moreover I think conceptual art fills a certain void that I usually don't consider. Beuys was very much an activist and also a product of a dark personal history. I think this, in some ways, led to an interest in promoting concepts, awareness and reactions in his work. I'm not really looking to spread ideas or awareness right now, so I'm more focused on the visual quality of my work (just a quick update on my project, I have continued to log my snake and plan to start my portraits today). Honestly I can't say that I was particularly drawn to much of Beuys work, but I really liked how exploited himself and the art world to raise money for planting trees. I see a lot of conceptual work and come away thinking it's a bunch of lazy crap, but with Joseph Beuys I really get a sense sincerity that is a little refreshing.
Man I have the same thoughts about conceptual artwork--I can appreciate it, but it's not something I'm interested in creating myself. But Beuys just seems like such a nice, sincere dude under all the weirdness. I feel like we had really similar ideas about him/his work.
ReplyDeleteDetermining whether art is "a bunch of lazy crap" is a serious matter. How does logging your snake games as digital art compare with Beuys talking coyote as performance art? Tough call isn't it? Seems to depend on the intensity and intent of the artist more than the reaction of the casual viewer...or no?
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