There more than a whiff of emperor’s new clothes about modern art.
People are too scared to admit they don’t understand, or like it, in case they look stupid.
When I look at a work which bemuses me I ask a simple question: could I do it? If the answer’s yes then I don’t consider it’s art.
I’d have no trouble creating something like the pile of rubbish which won the Waikato National Contemporary Art Award and therefore have a great deal of sympathy for the artists who’ve rubbished the win.
Meanwhile, down here the Waitaki District Council is mulling over the membership of a committee which will be charged with the placing of art in public places.
Deputy Mayor Gary Kircher posted on the issue at Waitaki Blog and the ODT reports councillors are concerned that the committee will be too arty farty.
It’s a vexed issue and as the judge in the Waikato competition has illustrated all too well, one person’s art is another’s pile of rubbish.
Arty farty or not, I hope the people who end up on the committee take care to ensure that public places in the district aren’t populated by a whole lot of naked emperors.
Posted by homepaddock 
Homepaddock 