JTCAndI

john taylor contemporary art & illustration

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Blog Tasks

Task 1 - Keywords and Definitions

Task 2 - Useful Quotations

Task 3 - Annotated Reference List

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Task 2: Useful Quotations

1

2

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Task 1: Keywords and Definitions

Engage

Passion

Class

Space

Why

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Object Reflection

Student ID card

I’m at a place where, academically, I’m feeling very apathetic and overwhelmed by stress and expectations and when faced with tasks don’t particularly want to do them or see the point in doing them, my focus has recently taken a huge shift to the bigger picture of what I want to do with both myself and my life and that doesn’t exactly line up with what my degree is offering me – there are plenty of reasons for this too, though through it all I remain in University and remain studying because the bottom line is I need to do this for the money that it will eventually help me make (and in the short term, the money I get from student finance prevents me from needing to get a job to survive).

This is one reality of the society we live in, especially for poorer/working class people. Stay in education and remain financially sustained for as long as you can or go out and get a job to sustain yourself – either way we become the oil to a huge capitalist machine that aims to consume and make use of us and distract us from breaking away from the status quo set in place by an “imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy” [1] (as described and coined by Bell Hooks).

I feel like a good way to demonstrate this lack of a sense of place and belonging currently, as well as a want to simply satisfy and not exert myself as if to ‘meet the criteria and get it over with’, was to pick one of the first objects I could find on me, and reflect on this. I chose my student ID card – I also feel this represents and means a lot of things to me.

 To begin, the size of the card is something known as ID-1 in the international standard of identity card sizes (which is known as ISO/IEC 7810), so it’s a common size of card used for ID cards, credit cards, licenses and the like. The dimensions of this are 85.6 x 53.98 mm with a thickness of 0.76mm and rounded corners. It’s a clean, glossy white all around with a variety of details on each face – most of which are black. It’s a professional looking card, with tidy, easy-to-read san-serif typography (an exception is offered in the logo of the University of Huddersfield in the top right, also in a dark blue colour rather than black), a barcode stretched across the bottom of the front face while a portrait of the owner of the card decorates the left side (this picture has been stretched vertically during the making of the card) and warm colours such as pinks and oranges have been used in the upper-left for the NUS logo. The main subjects of the card are both the portrait and the adjacent name of the owner which is the biggest text on the card. The reverse side has simple information regarding the University such as phone numbers and email addresses presented in a minimal fashion. In the right light there’s a tiled image imposed on top of the face of the card that’s hardly viewable, reminiscent of holographic displays, with a key icon and reads ‘Ultra Security’.

The purpose of an ID card is first and foremost to help identify the owner of it. This is essential in an environment where there are lots of people, some new and some not, and helps confirm your identity. It lets people know your name and in this case that you’re a student at the University.

In some ways, it can also dictate your identity. What you are can depend on the environment you’re in and how you’re placed in that environment, this ID card for example doesn’t take into account anything that makes up a person’s personal identity but rather brands all students with the same treatment as they become as attribute of the University, they’re reduced to and known as nothing more than A Student – nothing else is relevant for this circumstance. Just as there are circumstances where a person’s educational status isn’t relevant, and ‘a student’ would not be the identifier for them.

The idea of the ID card can date back to the times of Napoleon – where these cards where implemented so employers could keep track of individuals and prevent them from having more than one job to prevent them from having more than one source of income. They were also utilized in Nazi Germany to establish supervision of the people. What started off as potentially one of the tools to create a totalitarian society became a necessity in our daily lives now, since the amount of different things people are doing as well as the variety of jobs and technologies there are mean it can be difficult to keep track of people if they don’t have some form of ID on them.

Another service the ID card holds in this University specifically (as this is not something done in all) is that it confirms a person’s attendance to sessions/lectures/etc. The University has a scanning system and scanning into a session confirms the student’s attendance. Attendance is something I struggle with. When going through a lot of personal issues as well as dealing with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety or socializing difficulties always maintaining a good attendance isn’t easy. The University wants people to attend, as would any capitalist establishment where attendance of the consumers is key to the running of that establishment. Due to this, it’s not easy for a person to decide they can’t or won’t come in as they’re then followed up or asked to confirm their absence or called in for meetings – all of this can contribute to stress I’ve found, stress which manifests itself in a number of ways but most of those resulting in a general feeling of wanting to do anything but go in in the future. Despite still doing work, and doing it well, attitude to attendance can still feel ruthless. It’s very much a matter of attend or don’t, and if you continually do not you don’t get to stay. This reflects most establishments propelled by capitalism such as the workplace, which is unfortunate for a lot of people who simply can’t abide by these ‘rules’ because of a number of factors. So this whole idea of attendance and how it can have an impact on my being in University or not is somewhat stressful to me, and when I see my ID card I’m reminded of that. However there are also benefits to attendance which are all the main reason for attending University in the first place – there is access to a wealth of information and resources and if I went through University not attending I probably wouldn’t be learning as much and so it would seem only logical to drop a student who is choosing not to learn or help themselves rather than keep them and risk having a lower pass rate for the course in question.

For the last couple weeks I haven’t been attending University. I didn’t attend much last term and passed the first module with a 1:1 while still having the time and energy to better myself outside of University and I liked how I felt about going against the dictation that “less attendance means worse grades” (doing this in a way that was slightly influenced by types of ‘activist art’, where I played with the idea of perhaps presenting a lack of absence as my ‘piece’ if I were to explain it well enough) though it was through doing this then and now I noticed the ‘upset’ it caused and that’s what got me thinking about how essential it is to attend for both the student (consumer) and University (establishment/corporation). I noticed there’s no other realistic choice than to attend and abide by the rules no matter how much I occasionally view it as a perpetuation of capitalism.

There are other things on this card that prompt various thoughts, however. For example the portrait was something we could upload ourselves which left everyone with a choice of what kind of picture to put up (something which probably didn’t cross a lot of peoples’ minds though). The natural response would have been to do for a more ‘professional’ kind of picture taken in a photo booth, though if this wasn’t necessary I didn’t want to since that costs money. I’m also interested in the idea that anything else, for example a picture taken of the person by the person themselves, is deemed as unprofessional. I feel like this kind of thought process is something rooted in classism as the self-portrait in recent times is met with a lot of scrutiny, though I personally believe it’s a good thing to celebrate. At one point in history it would only be the richer people who could indulge in having a portrait of themselves whether it be by being painted by someone or having a camera when they were new, though through consumerism and the increasing availability of the camera now the normal person can capture an image of anything which also means now the normal person is capable of having a portrait of themselves – something that can tend to make other people uncomfortable for fear of it seeming ‘vain’ or unnecessary.

Another thing I notice on the card is the name, rather than having the name of the person it’s their formal title, first initial and then surname. The only part I find questionable is using a title rather than a name, especially in a University environment where most people and definitely students are going to be known on a first-name basis. A part of me asks ‘why does it matter?’ what a person’s title is, this is because I focus a lot on gender issues and identity, and I find a name to be much more important than a title as I feel it brings unnecessary emphasis on the gender of the person. This idea comes from experiences I’ve seen and had with people who are either transgender or gender-nonconforming wanting to change their card, a name is one thing but having an indicator of gender can make people uncomfortable and want to change it.

So the ID card represents a lot of things to me and reminds me of my feelings towards University, while also having me consider my place in University and the capitalist society we live in and want to respond to it.

In relation to trends in art, I’d describe this object as a ‘found object’ which is simply where a person will find an object that already exists and they would present that as art without particularly changing it. This was a trend started by the ‘readymades’ of Marcel Duchamp in the early twentieth century which became the foundation of the Dada ‘movement’ which is something I’m very interested in. Studying a lot of art with a dwindling passion for art I was pleased when I came across Dadaism and it’s interesting and fresh take on rejecting the art world’s ‘norms’ and standards, it was almost satirical. This in combination with the Arte Povera movement interested me in a relatable way as being anti-establishment commentaries on the art world and eventually capitalism.

Duchamp’s now infamous ‘Fountain’, an upturned and signed urinal, posed a near-existential question to the art world regarding what could be considered art and just exactly who had the right to decide such. Though he moved from readymades to ‘assisted readymades’, the tradition of using found objects and then presenting them as art is something that remains to this day and in my opinion one of the more interesting forms of art; I like art that acts as a commentary on issues and I find a very effective way of doing that is to confront things, concepts, objects and symbols which exist already.

Duchamp’s explanation behind the readymade is rooted mainly in the idea behind the choice of the object that was used, as said: “Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, and placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.”[2]

Another popular example of ‘found object’ art is Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’, or the work of Cathy Wilkes as I recently attended an exhibition to see her work. I was drawn to these ordinary objects that somehow told a story and relied heavily on context and understanding. I feel presenting my University ID card, if I had to fit it into a trend in art, would be classed as a ‘found object’ because of what I can make it mean with the context I’ve put behind it.

  [1] – Imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy: a concept coined by Bell Hooks in her book ‘The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love’

[2] - Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, and placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.: Quote from Avant-Garde magazine’s May 1917 issue, cited from Tate’s website: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/readymade

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Why

Questioning is something I did a lot on this course which I think is because of how I view art.  I was focused on the meaning of things and what backed those up. I think this is because whenever I make art I want it to mean something and reflect on something important in some way, such as social issues. I wasn’t fond of making work of things I ‘liked’ or using weak reasons such as “because I like this”, so when I would be asked to do something as simple as “draw anything” or look at others’ work I would ask “Why?” and just want to know the point of the work. I feel like thinking too much about what the work should mean rather than innocently working on whatever I wanted did slow me down and restrict my freedom of thought.

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Space

Space meaning a place where things have presence, can be interpreted to mean a physical space or a mental space. Two things I’ve considered a lot through this course. Firstly there was our studio space, a very small area with more people than room and felt like a definite and discouraging step down from my situation last year. I had about a third of the space of a desk meant for two to work on, when I’m used to working in an area that was at least two square metres long with a wall and a big open space also. Feeling like I had a lack of space to properly produce work (Especially since I work a lot with research and the internet, but was not near a plug socket) was discouraging and uncomfortable, and contributed to my being in a bad place mentally, and with this discouraged headspace helped me lose passion and motivation and made me not want to be there and make work as often.

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Class

This word has lots of meanings but I’m mainly focused on class as in the identifier of a person’s social/economic status and also a group of students studying the same thing. I’m interested in the expectations of people in order for them to do well and how success can be hindered if a person is of a lower class or has little money, something I relate to being poor and from a lower class family; something a lot of people don’t consider. Whenever I make work I always like to make sure there’s some sort of commentary on injustices in society, and the issue of classism in a heavily capitalist society is something that is very present and comes up a lot – especially in the art world. I’m interested in the intersection between advocacy for equality but also the traditions of the art world and ‘establishment’ as the latter is something that can be perceived as quite elitist, more so for poorer people lacking resources or technical skill considered essential for success.

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Passion

To feel emotionally strong towards or about something. I feel there’s a constant dichotomy among our society in general where a person can either do what they need to do to survive and achieve “success” (which means very specific things in a strongly capitalist society) or to take the less beneficial route and do what they want to do. A lot of the time it’s when people are too late do they realize they should have “done what made them happy”, all through education from young we are often pressured to decide just what it is we are passionate about and to find our ‘passion’ – and then measure how successful we will be if we pursue that passion, this is something that comes up a lot with creatives studying such courses. Through this course I’ve been wondering if this is what I’m “passionate” about, how much that matters if at all and if I should do anything to change that and what would be best for me in the long run.

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Engage

To involve and participate in, simply to take part - this word feels most important to me this year, since the beginning I felt like I wasn’t doing too well with the course and when my tutor described it as a lack of engagement I realized that described it well. As soon as I started and got the first brief I simply had not been able to engage and be as care-free and creative as the rest of the people on my course. I had a lot of things and worries on my mind and it was hard for me to get out of my head and just produce good work, or to even want to produce work at all; the creative flow had also completely stopped. This was a feeling that just got worse as it went on, resulting in an even further lack of engagement.

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How do you think that technology has influenced working practices in Contemporary Art and Illustration?

Technology has influenced nearly everything in the world and has been doing so for a very long time, especially depending on how you’d define ‘technology’ (The Oxford dictionary defines it firstly as “The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry”[1])

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll refer to technology as it’s commonly regarded and somewhat colloquial meaning for simply recent computer/electronic-based technology.

I believe technology like this has had an undeniable effect on most things in the world, so big in fact it’s hard to describe the changes it’s made to art because art has almost naturally progressed with the rest of the world in terms of growing and adapting to technological advancements; there are a lot of ways to believe how technology has changed art and a lot of ways to look at this.

I aim to respond to this question by explaining just a couple ways that I personally believe technology has had an influence on the art world using a mixture of education, research and personal experience. This means I’ll be focussing on the idea of capitalism and such other social issues (being mindful of a context where these are issues that are largely affected by the presence of technology; for example ableism) and the opportunities technology offers to people of lower economic classes and/or other marginalized people as well as how it can be used to go against this and perpetuate inequality.

When I discuss work I like to think about the social effect it can have and how it can either be a reflection of social issues, a comment on them or act as a catalyst for action. I’m recurrently interested in issues surrounding social structures, oppressive groups and marginalized people from a feminist and not-too-privileged perspective. Issues that come up a lot when talking about art are often those surrounding gender (Be it gender identity through trans people and discussion of gender conformity or gender discrimination through sexism), class (And my own experiences as a proletarian in a very capitalist society), race, ableism and any further upholding of historically powerful yet oppressive groups.

Technology is being used in contemporary art in a lot of ways. Looking at fine art especially, there is work that owes its very being, concept and meaning to the idea of technology. Examples of work like this can be found in a current exhibition called ‘Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)’, the chronologically reversed date describes the exhibition which starts at the very current, modern day and travels back through time through important moments in history for both art and technology, ending back in 1966 which refers to the iconic Experiments in Art and Technology movement and group (known as E.A.T.). This exhibition showcases a huge amount of work all eventually linking back to this general theme of technological revolution in art.

A high point of EAT’s time was their ‘Pepsi Pavililion’ for the expo ’70. Described as “an experiment in collaboration and interaction between the artists and the engineers, exploring systems of feedback between aesthetic and technical choices, and the humanization of technological systems.”[2] this series of installations aimed to create an environment not unlike that of a laboratory, and at the time did the radical thing of blurring any lines between art, technology and the use of space resulting in an experience that was incredibly immersive. This was important at the time because it was one of the first examples of art being created in collaboration with industry culture – something done very regularly today. It was a collaboration that didn’t last too long as the art world at the time disagreed with the relationship of such a group working with a company as corporate as Pepsi and Pepsi weren’t able to juggle the two tasks of presenting something artistic and avant-garde while also appealing to the masses of visitors. The activities of the EAT group is what helped patch up gaps between various past movements (Such as the dada and fluxus movements of the 60s) while propelling art forward and intersecting it with technology which is a legacy that remains relevant today with most art utilizing all kinds of multimedia and technology.

Technology benefits art in a range of ways. Technically, it benefits artists with what they’re able to do and work with and how they’re able to make work. Artists can now make work bigger and faster and, if they want, with the assistance of technology. Though some people agree this removes from the authenticity of the work, Grayson Perry said it’s “fetishized”[3], the whole idea of the ‘handmade’ art. Technology also gives artists a whole lot more subject matter to work with. This is especially with the use of the internet. Research, data, history, journals, news and most else is available on the internet for anyone to find and use and this is incredibly useful for informing artwork. The internet has provided people with a lot more connection to each other and through the likes of the media a lot of people, especially those interested, have access to information about what’s happening anywhere else in the world. This could even open up possibilities for people to make art about or respond to things they’ve never actually (or physically) experienced. Not only this, but once art is informed and made the internet is the same thing that will help the work be seen. Now people don’t necessarily have to go to galleries to learn about art work and popular things will reach more and more people and increase in popularity further.

One exhibition, ‘Big Bang Data’ which started at the end of 2015 and ended during March 2016, acts almost as a celebration of data and the revolution that came with the invention of the internet and electronic data processing. The introduction page of the exhibition’s website states, “Every day we’re producing data in huge quantities. Our online activity, alongside that of businesses and governments, has led to a massive explosion – a ‘Big Bang’ – of data.”[4] And this celebrates art that utilizes this data in all sorts of ways. Different works use the data in different ways, with different intentions and messages and ways of presenting all of this. For example, presented there is ‘selfiecity.net’ using self-portrait photographs posted onto Instagram as data and material to work with. It uses 120,000 photos from across 5 cities and picks the best 1000 per city. Then a lot of work and analysis is done into things like if the people have their eyes open or not, if they’re tilting over as they pose, the expression they’re pulling and their gender. Once all of this information is gathered they’re able to share their findings and have it tell a lot about a city (Like how for example people who take selfies in London tend to smile less, and more women take selfies than men). The site also has theoretical essays about what all of this means and further findings, therein utilizing data and information to create even more data and information. This would not have been possible if technology hadn’t allowed it. I’m also interested in how advancements in technology have even made selfies possible and what this means. I think it’s known that the idea of the ‘selfie’ is one that a lot of people (Mostly older people who aren’t growing up around this technology) look down on, usually for reasons such as it being deemed ‘vain’. However I think back to centuries ago when only the rich and holy were people ‘worthy’ enough to have portraits made (back then, painted) of them, or have any art made about them. And so as technology has improved and the inevitability of consumer culture has meant it’s become affordable for the average/poor person to possess the means to make and have their own self portrait, it upsets some very old ideas that likely stem from classism – and so I find it important for the everyday person to celebrate the selfie and am thankful the capability exists. Also for the fact that it lets more people celebrate their appearance, and right now in a very consumerist, capitalist society corporations who deal with selling products to the people profit of those people not thinking they look good and so continue to drill in the idea that ‘vanity’ and self celebration is a bad thing; especially considering the cosmetic industry in the UK is worth over £8 million, according to the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association (CTPA)[5].

A further use of data in art is Ellie Harrison’s work, such as ‘Eat 22’[6] where she strictly photographed every piece of food she ate for a year. Other works she’s done include logging distance she travelled in London and how much tea she drank. She is known to be one of the first people to start ‘data logging’, especially since this was in the early 2000s and a while before computers and phones were used as often as they are now. Concern grew however when technology encouraged this behaviour even more.

This relates to the idea of surveillance. With the increasing use, popularity and near dependence on better technology and the internet, there are some bad things that come with it too. One issue often brought up when discussing data and availability is surveillance and concerns that it’s past the point of being for safety and entering totalitarian territory. Another negative side of the internet is that it can act as a platform for a lot of people whose opinions and statements only exist to cause further bad and inequality in the world. Even monitored comment sections on websites are open for anyone to say anything. One example of how toxic this negative side of the internet can be is when Microsoft created ‘Tay’, an artificial intelligence modelled after a teenage girl that was intended to go on Twitter and engage with the users, simply as a test of artificial intelligence. ‘She’ has plans to learn from the people of Twitter and adapt to their behaviour. Within hours she transformed into a racist, oppressive, offensive Hitler-supporting, pro-Trump bigot – which was an unfortunate demonstration of both the kind of people on the internet, and a terrible reflection on what AI can do, what can happen to it and what it’s capable of.

Technology does bring some further benefits though, especially more specifically concerning art. It lets disabled do more and create more. Poorer people are able to do more and more with technology that’s affordable. And other injustice in the world can be spoken about, even through the likes of whistleblowers. It’s also increased the size of every market and this includes that of the art world.

I intended to discuss how technology has influenced contemporary art, and I considered a range of examples and points of view and offered insights along with this. I was also critical, answering the question by stating positive influences but not forgetting to mention the bad. I began with talking about what technology was, movements that involved technology and then specific works and examples which demonstrate that intersection between technology and art.

    1.       Oxford dictionary definition of ‘technology’ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/technology

2.       Quote: “an experiment in collaboration and interaction between the artists and the engineers, exploring systems of feedback between aesthetic and technical choices, and the humanization of technological systems.” from an article about EATs Pepsi Pavillion work http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/pepsi-pavillon/

3.       Grayson Perry’s BBC Radio 4 Reith Lecture series “Playing to the Gallery”, specifically “Democracy has bad taste” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt

4.       Quote: “Every day we’re producing data in huge quantities. Our online activity, alongside that of businesses and governments, has led to a massive explosion – a ‘Big Bang’ – of data.” Big Bang Data website’s introductory page http://bigbangdata.somersethouse.org.uk/an-introduction/

5.       Statistics from the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association(CTPA) website http://www.ctpa.org.uk/content.aspx?pageid=295

6.       Eat 22 website http://www.eat22.com/ (2001-2002)

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Task 3: Reference List

 Grayson Perry’s BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures series titled ‘Playing to the Gallery’ (2013)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj965

This series of lectures really helped me build up a context that would inform and inspire the foundation of a lot of my work. Before listening to these I knew little about all the complexities behind fine art and wasn’t introduced to a lot of the arguments that are for and against various points in art and how they intersect with social issues.

I also related a lot to Perry’s approach to work for a lot of reasons but including the fact he doesn’t hesitate to brand himself a ‘transvestite’ or ‘cross dresser’ and often presents his work through his alter ego ‘Claire’, as someone who also does this (With my approach having its roots in the drag scene more than anything else) I was interested and inspired by this combination of an alter ego and the work made. It helped me think further about the internal issues I was having trouble with which was an inability to combine what I liked to do as a hobby with the work I would produce academically/’professionally’ even though it was suggested to me to combine the two.

These lectures got me thinking a lot, and unfortunately that’s most of what I did. I would think of work, think of concepts and reasons and meaning behind this work, I would consider all of those and then think of them further and then consider why I was thinking about any of them and if they needed to be thought about at all. He was definitely right when he made the point that ‘the artist’ is incredibly self conscious which in my case resulted in a disengaging standstill. Though I felt better informed for it, and when I would produce work it would have a lot of thought and research behind it and I think I have this series of lectures to thank for putting me in the right frame of mind to be able to do that.

 Terri Trespicio’s ‘Stop searching for your passion’ Tedx Talk (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8

This talk is what I feel helped me start thinking about the idea of ‘passion’ and start to think critically about my lack of engagement with my course and work, but also realize that it was normal and not to worry about it but rather do something about it. There was what I was doing ‘professionally’/academically, which was producing work that came from a place of commentary on social injustices and in a fine art style, hoping to go into the field of contemporary art or illustration. Though personally as a hobby and for my own leisure I found I was less interested in fine art and more interested in illustrative drawing, fashion and makeup; which I practice through drag. I always kept the two separate and basically this lack of engagement in my course started to hinder me. This talk made me reevaluate exactly what it was I was ‘passionate’ about and reconsider my priorities. In deciding on a course I want to do and realize how essential it is to pass this year I feel this gave me new motivation to do well as well as a better sense of honestly with what I’d make which will translate into more natural work rather than me struggling to engage and therefore come up with an idea.

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Useful Quotations (2)

“Passion is not a plan. It’s a feeling. And feelings change.” - Terri Trespicio (2015) ‘Stop searching for your passion’ Tedx Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8

This was a talk that stood out to me because Terri Trespicio brought up the idea that we as a people are expected to ‘find our passion’ and work towards that and if we can’t then something is wrong. This whole idea of ‘passion’ was something that resonated with me because I never felt I would be able to decide on one thing I was passionate enough about to make myself all about it. I also realized I wasn’t fond of the course, and I’d say it was something I was doing because I had to and I would try to convince myself that this was what I wanted to do because all my academic life (and so most of my life) I’d thought of myself as ‘good at art’ and ‘an artist’ and so studying Contemporary Art was what I was to do, and yet I simply wouldn’t engage. But after this talk and the idea of not worrying too much about ‘passion’ it helped me see things more realistically and do what I needed for success.

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Useful Quotations (1)

“In the art world sometimes it can feel as if to judge something on its beauty, on its aesthetic merits, can almost feel like you’re buying into some[thing] politically incorrect, into sexism, into racism, colonialism, you know, class privilege. It almost feels it’s loaded, because where does our idea of beauty come from?” – Grayson Perry (2013) ‘Democracy has Bad Taste’, of the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures series titled ‘Playing to the Gallery’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt

This quote was elaborating on another quote by Marcel Duchamp when he said, “Aesthetic delectation is the danger to be avoided” about his famous work ‘Fountain’ (This can be sourced back to an article written by Arthur Danto titled ‘Art, Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Art’, more specifically ‘Humanities, Vol. 4, No. 1’ – 1983 http://web.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361/361_r1.html) I find this quote very useful as it’s something that once I heard it, I agreed with it and definitely understood what he was saying. I rejected the idea that ‘art’ only has to be aesthetically pleasing or even require any technical skill to be considered art (A rhetoric that anyone involved with fine art will hear all the time, which can begin to feel like it’s discrediting the work of the artists). I always agreed with the notion that art is more about its meaning and concept rather than simply just how it looks, and judging it by how it measures up to a constructed and potentially problematic idea of ‘beauty’. Grayson Perry continues to talk about this through the lecture, he begins to criticize this whole idea and says it was something very prevalent during the period of Modernism and goes on to mention the ‘crippling self-consciousness of the artist’ and this is definitely something that resonated with me. Just how he mentions his fondness for Victorian narrative paintings and then finding all sorts of ways to justify this fondness, I found myself both agreeing with the idea that art is and should be conceptual and about more than it’s aesthetic but also unable to attach this to and/or explain my fondness for things on an aesthetic level. This resulted in my experiencing a divide of what I considered “art” in my own work, which was the conceptual, critical and thought out fine art pieces versus things I made out of interest and hobby such as drawings and photographs of things I found aesthetically pleasing. I felt the two weren’t allowed to connect and if I were to ‘admit’ my fondness for things based on their ‘beauty’ outside of fine art it would discredit and disprove all the art work I would make around the idea that it’s ‘ugly’ on purpose and ‘aesthetic delectation’ is for the privileged. Perry however continues to talk in this lecture about the question of what constitutes art and how there are a lot of standards to measure art up against but also the fact that art that may be ‘beautiful’ is likely to be more popular, and popularity can lead to further success (Though this further depends on the point and aim of the work). I looked for a middle ground between demonstrating an unapologetic lower-class-ness through work that was deliberately more focused on concept and didn’t care for looking ‘beautiful’, but also being honest about what I like and am interested in.

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