RE: Painting, sculpting, disappearing?
May 22, 2022 at 3:33 pm
(This post was last modified: May 22, 2022 at 3:44 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
What gets compared and what is equal or better than are not interchangeable. Cinema is digital art, at least nowadays. It combines a ton of things to accomplish what those before could have only dreamed (and certainly did). The writing is better, the acting is better, the art is better, the whole experience more compelling.
The idea of a great artistic age is a variation on the theme of a golden age. It's never been true - it's always been useful. We even convince ourselves that The Greats have been chosen out of a neutral pool of aspirants based on their skill..rather than being among what (small) amount remains that is useful to the organization of culture. If we're concerned that a specific style in a specific media has run it's course...well, ever was it thus. If we take from that that "art is dying" put any of the many ways it's expressed, that's just boiler plate culture war. If it's any consolation, things come back all the time. Kitsch and nostalgia are never far away. Collecting old shit from the supposed golden age, though, is antiquing. Not art appreciation. Art is alive.
Human artistic skill isn't measured in chiseling, or dragging a brush. That's just craftsmanship. Craftsmanship has always been the enemy of culture war - because it routinely shows that no great work is unforgeable, because it fundamentally threatens the monopoly that favored producers have on The Right Cultural Artifacts.
The idea of a great artistic age is a variation on the theme of a golden age. It's never been true - it's always been useful. We even convince ourselves that The Greats have been chosen out of a neutral pool of aspirants based on their skill..rather than being among what (small) amount remains that is useful to the organization of culture. If we're concerned that a specific style in a specific media has run it's course...well, ever was it thus. If we take from that that "art is dying" put any of the many ways it's expressed, that's just boiler plate culture war. If it's any consolation, things come back all the time. Kitsch and nostalgia are never far away. Collecting old shit from the supposed golden age, though, is antiquing. Not art appreciation. Art is alive.
Human artistic skill isn't measured in chiseling, or dragging a brush. That's just craftsmanship. Craftsmanship has always been the enemy of culture war - because it routinely shows that no great work is unforgeable, because it fundamentally threatens the monopoly that favored producers have on The Right Cultural Artifacts.
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