DIARY - Art for arts sake....
Date: 2009-03-05 14:59:03
Author: Pat Kent
A while ago I wrote a piece slamming the Turner Prize, well more precisely the judges of the Turner Prize, well I've sort of reveiwed that position and come to the conclusion it's art installations that I can't quite comprehend, I still stand by the slamming of pompous art critics and the so called art "elite" though.
I suppose it's probably just me, but I can't quite see how an unmade bed or a shed-cum boat-cum shed again, is art of any sort. Maybe it's because I can't quite see how it can be exhibited anywhere other than in a museum; different if it is a piece of public art, there for all to see, for free as part of the wider environment. Again, maybe I'm missing the point [although I doubt it this time] but to me art is something that should be capable of being viewed by the masses to enjoy, question, excite or incite. Although we are lucky enough to have free access to most museums, still not enough people get exposed to the art they contain. Prints and posters are a relatively cheap way of allowing that access, but how do you do that for the unmade bed? To me it's the art installation that has brought down the notion of all art being good.
That's why I was so taken with the piece "Etched lines" which appeared a couple of years ago in Southwark Street close to the TATE Modern in London. it is real ART, art on a massive, public scale, and at 48m long and 3m high it cannot fail to catch your attention and hold it.
Fast forward a year, and in my other role as a Consultant Engineer I find myself meeting the Turner nominated artist of this piece at his studio, and finding him and his wife Sue, also an artist, to be the sort of people you have to really admire for what they do: Both really nice people and both extremely talented artists. The art work I saw at their studio was simply overwhelming and painstakingly crafted.
Ian was kind enough to invite me to the opening of his latest exhibition and I loved it. The work is really great, and the addional bonus of having the opportunity to se his "full size" works at his studio left me so impressed with this "real" art, that I've rethought my views on the Turner. I can't quite ever think that I will get like many "installation" pieces, I mean when does a "video instalaltion" stop becoming someone's home movie and become "art". However, at the end of the day it's about what you, the individual, find pleasing to your eye and mind.
Anyway the upshot is...I now have an "Ian Davenport" to hang on the wall.....If only I had the opportunity to show my old art teacher, Mr Krumins, the piece, I think he would have approved.
All the best
Pat K
©Pat Kent 2009 – All rights reserved. Pat Kent exercises his right to be identified as the author 2009