Well, perhaps we could all agree that we have aspects of ourselves that don't quite work as we'd hope? So they can be fixed, so it's not the end of the world.
I didn't go on to the further link, but will do. As far as I know, that gallery in Brittany just makes itself available for the community - getting the artists in would be great! Mrs C, my better half without a doubt, was quite inspired by the idea. Why not hold a series of workshops ending in an exhibition? Why shouldn't the kids, or the adults, or whoever it is, get to see their work on the gallery walls, if only for a night? Have a big open evening, for everyone to come and admire - become part of the community, and help them see galleries not as some fancy place with expensive stuff on the walls, 'not fer the likes of us', but somewhere that's a forum for ideas, for voices not always heard.
I'll come down off me soapbox now ... if you could just lend me a hand, I'm a bit wobbly from all that shouting ...
edit: went to said site. I'd argue that he draws worse than Rouseau - why can't he sharpen his pencils? - but I like the black horse a lot. It's more graphic design than fine art to me, all mouth and fashionable trousers. I suspect it won't age well. But hell, I used to think that Thunderbirds was realistic so I wouldn't listen to me.
your thoughts on how galleries are spot on, that's the way they should be, a meeting ground for people all all ages, maybe there would be less of these threads then.
Well, in an attempt to assess whether I've suffered from a case of severe knee-jerkitis I've done a google search and looked at almost every link I can find for Swiftie/darylk Waller and I can see no evidence that he can draw. You can see painitngs like his at any HE/FE college (my son is studying fine art at camborne and there is loads of work like swifite's on the walls) I've tried really hard to see what it is I'm missing - hell I even read Emma Rices w*nkfest about him but to no avail. I can see no artistic integrity, no talent and no validity in what he does. I find the alter ego thing vaguely amusing in an Augusto Boal theatre-ish way - he's created a character which people can have fun spotting in various locations but Where's Wally has already covered that niche
Each to their own and all but I still don't get it.
Re workshops for kids and the community - look no further than golowan who've been doing it for years. Until I got ill I spent many a fraught/enjoyable few weeks doing workshops with kids in schools. More large scale municipal exhibition space would be good but I can't see that happening in a hurry.
Just to add my twopennth. Art is subjective isn't it? Swifftie's work doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Yet I have prints (being local) of Norman Garstin, Stanhope Forbes & his wife Elizabeth Adela Forbes amongst others. I admire the subtle brushstrokes, the technique and the sheer ability of creating a picture that one may recognise for the ability to convey a scene that one can recognise.
Call me a philistine, but modern art doesn’t do it for me and I won’t be talked into believing it should.
- and fair enough. I think all any of us should aim for is open eyes; don't read the sign on the door that says 'modern art' and then assume you'll hate it all, just have a look first.
For me, there's plenty of modern stuff that looks like a waste of space to me. But then there's plenty of fairly old, quite old and very old stuff that also looks like a waste of space.
Just a thought, since I mentioned him, how do you feel about John Miller? He was local of sorts, and certianly realist and could draw (the more I think about Swiftie's drawing, the queasier I feel - some of the paintings I could see the virtues of, but there's nothing to be learned from drawing like that) and he's as modern as they come ...
Well I can see more of the 'artist' in John Miller's work (Summer Sandbar, Tresco Summer) than I can in Swifties. Very art-deco poster style isn't it? But again, it wouldn't occupy a space on my walls.
Here's a topical story:
Royal Academy rejects sculpture but loves plinth
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1018524.ece
Apparently the sculpture was shipped seperate from the base and the 'experts' decided the base was a work of art and put it on display. It might take the world of contemporary art a while to live that one down!
- and your walls are yours to hang with what you fancy, so fair enough! I suppose my position is: 'once upon a time, any attempt to depict something realistically was pretty shocking. So what seems shocking now may well be just a step towards something waiting in the future. So I have to decide am I shocked because I'm looking at something I can't get my head round, or because I really hate it?' And since I'm interested in those sorts of questions, I'm quite happy with that sort of art.
As for the plinth thing - the plinth does look like a sculpture; it's not like the bottom of a birdbath or something. And the hanging committee of the RA show go through hell, with stuff paraded before them at the rate of one every four seconds or something daft. But it's not good, is it.
Those famous bricks at the Tate - I knew someone at school who'd been taken there as a kid, and while his parents looked at the pictures he thought 'oh good, at least I've got some bricks to play with' and he made a little fort out of them. He said everyone got very excited when they saw what he'd done ...
The plinth story shows how pointless modern art is: show a Turner or Holman Hunt frame without the canvas and everyone knows immediately that the frame isn't what's supposed to be shown. The twerps who decided that "The base was thought to have merit" are nothing more than modern art con-artists, of whom there are, sadly, far too many.
Well, it's a plinth with a funny little dumbell-thing on it. Quite dramatic, in an abandoned dog-toy sort of way. And it's not quite fair to compare it to a painting, or at least not to those. What about Pam Crook, who paints half her paintings on the frames?
I do know something of the conditions in whcih Summer Show stuff gets judged, so I'm biased - they get to see things so briefly, so they hav to make a snap decision 'yes I think it's good' or 'no, not good enough'. They don't really want to tell everyone who's been accepted 'yes your picture's in, but we didn't really do more than glance at it'.
But sure, it's poncey nonsense. But so was Giotto at one point, so only time will tell.
I actually really like the head - it's got a touch of the eric gill's about it but I would have more respect for them if they said, 'Look we're stressed, we have to make snap decisions, we only get to see each piece for less than five mintes....etc' as it is they've made excuses and galvanised the opinion of a lot of people that modern art is a great big con.
I went right off Eric Gill when I was told he used to abuse his kids - although that shouldn't affect what his work looks like to me, it does.
Yeah, the head looks nicely done. I suppose it's just you've seen that kind of thing before, however nicely done, and they thought they'd got this sort of mortuary slab with a dead little wooden thing on it to judge ... yes, it's funny. Alas, very few people in this world have the guts to laugh at themselves when they've got it wrong. I was on a flight last month that managed, on landing, to leave the tarmac briefly and bump along the grass. The pilot got on the tannoy (and back on the tarmac) and said 'I do apologise for that landing ladies and gentlemen - but you've got to admit, I was close'. Much better response than trying to pretend it didn't happen or blaming a crosswind.
Stranded dolphins returned to sea
Vets, volunteers and marine experts battle for hours to rescue a dolphin and her calf stranded in Cornwall.
Airport closure was 'responsible'
The Civil Aviation Authority says the decision to close Newquay Airport was difficult but responsible.
Christmas tree is really rubbish
A giant Christmas tree made from recycled plastic bags and bottles goes on display at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
NEWQUAY AIRPORT CLOSURE: “HEADS MUST ROLL”
Stephen Gilbert, the prospective local MP for Newquay, has said that “heads must roll” over the unexpected closure of Newquay Airport and has called for a full enquiry into what went wrong.
Important Information regarding Air Southwest flights to/from Newquay Airport.
We have been advised that Newquay Airport will be closed from 1 December to 19 December 2008 inclusive. This is due to issues with the handover of air traffic control from the RAF to the airport authority.
English Heritage get one thing right at least
English heritage have joined with a variety of other organisations in opposing the planned incinerator in St. Dennis on grounds that they have failed to recognise or address the impact that the proposals will have on the wider landscape of St. Dennis.
MANX GOVERNMENT SUFFER WORST HUMILIATION BY THE UK IN LIVING MEMORY
The Isle of Man government and its Chief Minister have been shown to be inept and marginalised following comments from the United Kingdom Prime Minister and his Chancellor Alistair Darling over the past few weeks.
Population is older and lonelier
People living in Devon and Cornwall are generally older and lonelier than elsewhere in the UK, a BBC survey finds.
