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Some Responses To My Readings
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01.27.04 :: 1600
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One of the most insightful things I learned from the Rosenburg reading was the anecdote of the stolen 20 dollar bill. Whether the artists assumptions are correct that it must have been a lower class person who didn't understand that the twenty was a part of the artwork is less important than the overarching thought that who is to judge what is art and what is not?
I say if Object A is considered art by you, then it is art. At the same time, if I think Object A is a peice of crap and not worth giving a second glance, then it is not art. Art posesses the dualistic properties of identification based on judgement. It is not important as a whole whether something is considered art by the masses... it's only important on an individual basis (for the artist and participant).
So where does Collage fit into all this? Collage seems to take on its place in the art world through creation and then interpretation. The medium itself is important for these two processes to occur... not just to have a physical construction left to hang on a wall.
In new digital medias like the Internet or Video Games the collage itself has mostly transcended the physical identification expressed in the
Invention of Collage Article. Perloff says:
The use of unexpected materials to create a recognizable image is, of course, an ingenious game, but a game circumscribed by the assumption that the pleasure of recognition (look, those are really stamps!) is a sufficient response to a given work.
I will be exploring this statement more in depth as the semester continues (especially in reference to video games).
Another form of Collage that I love and jumps out as a prime example where the above statement does apply is found in SomethingAwful.com's weekly features called Photoshop Friday and Comedy Goldmine. These two types of "photoshop contests" take recognizable images and themes and mix and match to create the desired effect. In the case of the SA Photoshop Contests there is a given topic for each contest and all members of the forum can submit their take on the subject. For exmample, this topic was to take depressing works of art and make them happy: Turn that frown upside down, art!
Or this one from JFK: What Really Happened!
In case you don't know, that is the guy from Grand Theft Auto III. The great thing about these photoshops is that anyone with a little bit of training can do it and through the masses a common theme of how a group of people (like those of the somethingawful.com forums) look at the world. I hope to explore this more during the course of the class as well.
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Playing Catch Up and Parting Words 04.27.2004 :: 1630