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Big Is Better?

Gatsby here and even a dry vermouth can't stop my quivering angst against the monstrosity that greeted my arrival....

So I arrive in the Hamptons and all is well.

The parties are arranged and the boat is glistening with a new coat of paint.

And Tom has purchased the most bloody awful sculpture, no form, no lines and you can't miss it as it is over 30 foot tall.

Makes me think.............

Big is better…… not always

The Argument For:

Did you seen the Hockney exhibition in London with the large canvases that envelop you?

Or visited the Artparks with the 9m high sculptures that seem to inhabit the entire space?

Or marvel(?) at Jeff Koons and his 12m+ “Puppy”?

I have and I think they are amazing, enthralling and powerful creations that deserve examination, awe and response. And they are created by artists who have worked hard to master their skills, so that when they ‘upscale’ and attempt to create gigantic pieces, whether on canvas, sculptor or installation, they are exploring the unknown, exposing themselves - craft and often, reputation - to achieve a very difficult medium; large pieces of art that open up a new realm of possibilities, difficulties and interpretation.

The Argument Against.

Going ‘large’ does not make you a better artist.

Just because your canvas is the size of a barn door does not make it a quality piece of work.

Advertising banners are inspiring because they cover a building and are eye catching but they do not make the art better because they are big. They are there as a lure into something else.

A 50 metre high Kate Moss draped across the Musée D’Orsay is not art. Lots of fun for pubescent boys, but just advertising. Period!

Abstract is in the dock here, along with contemporary and installation art.

Anish Kapoor recently filled the Grand Palais in Paris with a monster installation ‘Leviathon’ which was magnificent.

To quote: “A single object, a single form, a single colour.” My ambition is to create a space within a space that responds to the height and luminosity of the Nave at the Grand Palais. Visitors will be invited to walk inside the work, to immerse themselves in colour, and it will, I hope, be a contemplative and poetic experience.”

It worked on many levels; it melded within the original building, and then transformed it. It was interactive and yet at the same time stood alone as an installation, like a parasite that chose to be there and became symbiotic with its host.

The other side of the fence.

An artist I met and liked has created a 6m x 4m abstract canvas with a Rothko red background and a black line that didn’t work as a ‘normal’ size canvas, so the artist trebled its size and then proclaimed, “It’s where I see myself and my art combining in a true sense of belonging and meaning”.

Absolute rubbish………

When it was a normal canvas it was called ‘Unknown red’.

And that is where it should have stayed…….unknown.

So why do it?

Does a painting (in this case) improve because it is 3 times bigger? (Very occasionally I admit it does).

I am disappointed, no, jaded by my needs and wants being dictated by so called media savvy messengers and artists who will not consider their own worth and ‘upscale’ just because it is the ‘new way’. It stifles the artist and ridicules me the spectator.

What will be ‘cool’ next? Someone is bound to tell me soon.

As a viewer of art I like to decide for myself what I feel or like; and at times I will go and see something that I don’t (think I) like. This is the quality of being open minded, coupled with a willingness to learn.

Show me an artist who is pushing personal boundaries, exploring their own feelings and drag-netting those shadowy depths and trying (not always successfully) to express that outwardly; it shows an ability to keep learning, to keep trying things, to endeavor, to grow as an artist, a person, a creative soul. For my part, I will actively seek an experience in the work.

And if this is the case, if an artist’s creative path is taking he/she towards grander vistas, then excellent. But should one go down this route because it is ‘the latest thing’?

The Risk

Artists who create vast pieces are often moving away from a comfort zone into unchartered territory. It requires skill and vision, and for some, considerable courage. But the rewards for artist and spectator can be greater interaction, heightened experiences, with the creative presence packing a more powerful punch.

But Artists, are you going BIG because it is what YOU want to do? Or is it that the constant white noise of media everywhere is telling you that you will fail unless you conform to the latest craze? What is the driving force here? Drawing attention to you or being inspired by a genuine notion that finally translated into the tower-block hugging piece?

I would ask both creators and spectators to reflect on whether you are simply buying into the ‘bigger is better’ and the ‘shocking is sellable’ line that is shouted out by the lazy, bored or oft talentless media and moneyed minority who have nothing but their own interests at heart, in order to stay with the crowd.

#Hockney #Koons #Artparks #opinion