Entry #9 - Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Art

i find it strange when people are willing to criticize isolated parts of pop-culture and not others. i get the feeling that some people see these things as unrelated events and not as part of a larger, cultural context. for example, often, someone will be willing to criticize music and then not be willing to apply that same belief to other disciplines, like, painting. or, they will criticize film, but not recognize that a lack of education is related to the downfall of not just society, but also art. i don't believe the ability to think critically and the discipline to hone a skill should be overlooked in any arena.

do i think that you have to have a college education to be an "artist" or a "critical thinker"? no, but i do think, child prodigies notwithstanding, that you should, at least ,have made a concerted effort before you consider yourself on par with people who have spent years studying their discipline. unfortunately, for large swathes of society, the "no child left behind", dumbing down, everybody gets a gold star, feel good education system has lulled people into thinking they're child prodigies without having to actually DO anything. the bar has been lowered, across every discipline, to the extent that college is nothing more than a trade school and art is so subjective, standards are meaningless.

i would also like to propose that the "feel good" attitude has also had a dubious affect on how we interact, not only with others, but also with ourselves. furthermore, i believe that the overwhelming numbers of people on psychiatric drugs, adults and children alike, is the direct result of a society trying, desperately, to avoid the darker truths of itself. how could such large scale avoidance of personal responsibility not lead to an equally large sense of entitlement? if you begin telling a child they're "special" and they get to live by "special" rules, as they do with many "behaviorally challenged" children, how can you then assume they will not expect to be treated this way as an adult? if you lower the bar, at what point in the continuum of life, do you raise it again? is there a painful adjustment for these people as they reach adulthood or, does the "medicating" continue forever?

i don't mean to suggest that every child be treated as though they are robots, but i am saying that if you don't address the issue upfront, there will be hell to pay when the backlash comes. drugging children to make up for the very real lack of adult intervention, in the home as well as at school, is a very poor resolution. drugging adults so they can avoid themselves is not a good substitute for life skills either. consequently, opting out of personal and civic responsibility is becoming a way of life in america. more importantly, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without the discipline personal responsibility requires is not freedom, it is chaos.

recently, i went to see the frida kahlo exhibit and my first impression was that her work was two-dimensional, but i will discuss that later. after completing the self-guided tour, my second impression was regarding her character. although she lived in relative affluence for most of her life, which surely afforded her the ability to be an artist in the first place, the mental discipline she employed in an effort to transmute her pain into art was impressive. she could have just as easily become a drug addict, an alcoholic or, committed suicide or, done nothing memorable at all. admittedly, her husbands recognition as an artist certainly gained her access to a world of art that another woman might not have been privileged to, but she still had to step up in the face of physical and emotional tragedy to make it happen.

i knew very little about frida before entering that exhibit; in fact, i hadn't even really seen any of her work. i should also tell you that i have very little formal training regarding art, in general. however, i do have enough training and personal experience to comprehend the level of skill involved and i find it appalling when people refuse to acknowledge that every dimension added to a piece of art requires increased mastery in order to execute it successfully. in my opinion, more mastery needs less context, which brings me to my third impression - without the context provided by the pre-recorded biography and plaques next to the paintings, i am not so sure i would have been as deeply moved by frida's work.

everytime i bring skill level in to question someone always brings up abstract art as if i am saying that it doesn't incorporate skill because i always use the masters of renaissance portraiture as an example. fear not! i think it is just as easy to see the mastery of abstraction as well. i am also acknowledging the learning/time curve and evolution of any artist's ascent to mastery. actually, that is my whole point... you don't get to be a "master" until you earn it. my other point is - the undeserved, egocentric attitude which is so prevalent in the world of art makes me want to ignore it altogether, sometimes. and if this feel good bullshit continues we're not likely to get a reprieve any time soon.

feel free to disagree or, call me a blasphemous bitch or, whatever, but please don't bring up postmodernism. there is not enough time to get into that debate via blog comments.