What is Art? - DPChallenge Forums

12/17/2013 09:02:51 AM · #1

No -- Not Art Roflmao -- that's too difficult of a question to even be pondered!

The current, past and intermittently ongoing threads have never answered the question, and of course never will.

But a quote from ubique really got me thinking:

And I have said that real art, at least in its contemporary context, ought to be confrontational or provoking in some way and at some level (because that's the point of art; anything else is just decor ... in my opinion).

In my household, that's what art was -- decor. What do you want hanging on your walls?

It's supposed to be something else?

I can be something else?

I'm not convinced it can.

And then it came time to print out photos to hang on my wall for a party. And though I have many ribbons, I had a hard time coming up with photos that I wanted to hang on my wall.

That being said, I think I've bought 2 pieces of artwork to hang on my wall my entire life. I've made needlework, and printed photographs. But my paintings are hand-me-downs from my mom. So I'm really not particularly into art even as decor.

Ok -- here's the point of the thread. Show me the art your like on DPC. If you don't think there's anything that really qualifies as art, show me the photos. But don't just show me -- tell me why it connects with you, and if you are willing, why you think it's art.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/17/2013 09:05:44 AM · #2

Ok -- I was going to start, but I can't find the photo!

Who did the self portrait, standing in the bathtub on the beach? All this time I thought it was LevT!

gyaban

Canon EOS-1D X

12/17/2013 09:10:10 AM · #3

Here you go:

12/17/2013 09:13:46 AM · #4

thanks, Christophe!

Ok --

this is one of the first shots that came to mind. Probably because I did like the lighting (although, it's looking a bit harsh on the face now), but especially because it caught my imagination. It was just one of those "why??" shots along with

coley's

So it was the combination of the oddity and the lighting that comes together for me.

Message edited by author 2013-12-17 09:19:40.

sjhuls

Canon EOS-7D

12/17/2013 09:50:53 AM · #5

Because

melethia said she does not do art, I am going to pick a few from her portfolio that I think definitely are art. This is what is wrong with this site, making people believe they are not artist. We all have at least a few pieces of art in our portfolio.

And this was just from a quick look at your portfolio, I'm sure I could find many more.

12/17/2013 10:14:18 AM · #6

Deb is just wrong. But everyone on the site seems to know that but Deb. :)

sjhuls

Canon EOS-7D

12/17/2013 10:19:00 AM · #7

I guess to me art is a photograph that means something. Whether you set up the story before you clicked the shutter button or happened to find meaning in something totally by accident after the shutter button was already clicked. It can be achieved by no processing or by extensive processing. What matters is the final result not the process it took to make it. If a photo extracts emotion whether that be sadness, humor, horror or whatever, it is art by my own definition. Maybe that isn't what others think art is, but to me that is what it is all about. If a photograph makes me feel something it is art.

The problem then comes when someone like me looks at a blurry photo and can't find emotion (not saying I never do, it is just harder for me) Or when someone like ubique looks at my perfectly planned photos and can't find any emotion. We then say, "well that isn't art", but just because it isn't your kind of art doesn't mean it isn't art.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

12/17/2013 10:29:03 AM · #8

Ha! I was gonna skip this thread because I really do not know art at all - seriously! But I like this from Jenn: "What matters is the final result not the process it took to make it. If a photo extracts emotion whether that be sadness, humor, horror or whatever, it is art..." Not sure I will ever understand art as some here do, but I can kinda get that definition. I also like what Henry said in the other thread - it's a picture you want to revisit - that there's something in that shot that makes you want to come back and see it again, and again.

(Thanks, guys.)

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

12/17/2013 10:36:36 AM · #9

If "art" = "whatever I come back to look at over and over again", then Penny's a work of art. For me.

Tiny

Apple iPad mini 4

12/17/2013 10:42:33 AM · #10

Oh no this shirt was clean.

sjhuls

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

12/17/2013 10:42:41 AM · #11

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

If "art" = "whatever I come back to look at over and over again", then Penny's a work of art. For me.

They say that the human form is a work of art. I think it is. And if you go by my definition as well, think of all the emotion penny excites in you as well.

P-A-U-L

Canon EOS R6

12/17/2013 10:48:43 AM · #12

Here are some photos from the site I consider art - these are just picked from my favourites in no particular order

Message edited by author 2013-12-17 10:49:36.

chazoe

Nikon Z7 FX

Nikon MF Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D PC

12/17/2013 11:13:25 AM · #13

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

12/17/2013 05:35:59 PM · #14

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
-- G.K. Chesterton.

I thought that was an interesting quote.

see

Canon PowerShot S95

12/17/2013 06:31:04 PM · #15

Another brick in the wall (part 2) Is a picture.
The album "The Wall" is art.

12/17/2013 07:03:50 PM · #16

Here's one...

Black Sheep by

posthumous

It does interesting things on many levels. There is a visceral apocalyptic deep memory touch to it on a personal level. Those intensely disturbing white buildings with the black skull eye socket like windows are something that are instantly recognisable. We can relate them to history and a common fear of prison camps and the grimness of where humankind can go. It's like the surreal stories of J G Ballard. The Terminal Beach. Black Sheep or human/monkey faced rats? Prisoners or Prison Guards? The back alley of Doctor Moreau's island lab. Fear sweat drying on fur. The subtle use of Expert editing to just shift a couple of portions out of sync creates a filmic feel that adds to the disturbing feel of the photograph. Like Burrough's cut up methods, this is playing with time and blink and the moment is gone.

Oh, and i don't put much stock in the intent of the photographer. On DPC the actual, 'challenge' is interesting for a very short time and then it is irrelevent. I'm not that bothered in what the photographer or the artist 'is trying to say'. As far as i'm concered they should keep the hell out of my way!

Message edited by author 2013-12-17 19:10:44.

12/17/2013 07:39:33 PM · #17

Originally posted by vawendy:

But a quote from ubique really got me thinking:

And I have said that real art, at least in its contemporary context, ought to be confrontational or provoking in some way and at some level (because that's the point of art; anything else is just decor ... in my opinion).

This discussion has reminded me of a Michael Moorcock essay from the late '70's, 'Epic Pooh' in which he critiques the fantasy literature genre and, in particular, evicerates Tolkien and Lord of the Rings.

'It is a lullaby; it is meant to soothe and console. It is mouth music. It is frequently enjoyed not for its tensions but for its lack of tensions. It coddles; it makes friends with you; it tells you comforting lies...It is Winnie The Pooh posing as an epic.'

I find it hard to disagree with that. Me mentioning Ballard and Burroughs above, two writers that Moorcock championed, probably reminded me of the quote. Moorcock could be a bit of a hack though.

Burroughs on Art. Short but sweet.

12/19/2013 08:18:40 PM · #18

tnun

Ricoh GR III

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

12/19/2013 09:07:51 PM · #19

interesting how pontifical he sounds, but definitely the point someone here earlier made about things becoming ordinary after a "breakthrough." I have been thinking how quickly a photo style can become a cliche, and how it is not a question so much of good or bad, art or not art, as if that could ever be entirely objective, but one of are we thirsty for it, does it give us life...On the other hand some develop their own style out of some inner necessity, tapping into a vein of their own. Not to single anyone out, but

jmritz is someone whose work I can see lining the walls over my whole house and I would never tire of it, because I have NOT YET absorbed it, and it seems to fill a need I am incapable of articulating myself.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

12/19/2013 09:47:56 PM · #20

Originally posted by tnun:

Not to single anyone out, but jmritz is someone whose work I can see lining the walls over my whole house and I would never tire of it, because I have NOT YET absorbed it, and it seems to fill a need I am incapable of articulating myself.

For me, his work's just FULL of sorrow and regret and a sort of unfocused longing. I think it's extremely powerful.

12/19/2013 10:16:27 PM · #21

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by tnun:
Not to single anyone out, but jmritz is someone whose work I can see lining the walls over my whole house and I would never tire of it, because I have NOT YET absorbed it, and it seems to fill a need I am incapable of articulating myself.

For me, his work's just FULL of sorrow and regret and a sort of unfocused longing. I think it's extremely powerful.

Yes indeed. I think i've said many times before on DPC,

jmritz is my favourite person with a camera here.

That's a clumsy way of saying it, but yea. Him and

pointandshoot

Message edited by author 2013-12-19 22:20:14.