Hi, art history anon here! I love what you said about the stillness of art galleries, they are the place where I find the most peace. And I love how they cause people to stop and look and think. But yeah art is something I could talk about for hours haha. I’ve loved learning about modern art and like the emergence of avant garde movements. A favourite of mine is conceptualism because it just pushed the boundaries of what art is to the point that I don’t think those boundaries even exist anymore. I also love movements like Dadaism and 70s feminist art and just like anytime there was an obvious rejection of the established artistic conventions or like the overall culture of art institutions. Learning about history alongside art is so interesting cause when you add the social and political context of the time it brings a whole new element to looking at art. (And if you ever want to share even a shortened version of that arty fic I would love to read it!)
I think whats so interesting about art and art history, to me at least, is that events influence art, which influence events, which influences art, so you have something of a historical vacuum of expression. I’m absolutely sure you know more about this than me, but if you take 70s feminist art, for example, which is a byproduct of a changing political and social circumstance, ie. the pill and the sexual liberation movement, you, of course, get the Shock Horror response of conservatism and a desire for safety in the return to traditional values and aesthetics, which means you’re going to have a new pathway spring up, from which people will, again, inevitably rebel. My favourite part of history is the domino effect it always has, and I don’t think theres anywhere you see that more clearly than in art. Not to mention that avant garde just slaps entirely independent of its context! Its historically loaded and we can all write a thesis on it but its also just cool to look at while making you Feel.
You have very much inspired me by humouring my desire to just blabber on about the things I find interesting and I did in fact open up the abandoned art fic I was working on after you last message, so hope remain for an art curator fic yet!
