Without being able to get into the heads of animals, it’s hard to say for sure. But instances of pig painters, whale crooners and bird sculptors certainly make it seem plausible.
The talk was, art is about exploring ideas and generating thought. Art doesn’t serve a purpose aside from creating new ideas. This is different from something like pottery, where the goal is to have a really pretty mug or ashtray. This is the “art and craft dichotomy”. Craft is about making functional items in a beautiful or interesting way. Textiles, jewelry, furniture, pottery. It’s about skilled people creating items for the betterment of daily life. A mug, beautifully made as it may be, won’t ever be art unless you drill holes in it, put it on a plith and title it “My Meaningless Existence” or something. Art won’t help you about your day except giving you fresh viewpoints on the workaday world.
Viewed from this lens, the bower birds are building these things to get laid. They are craftsmen.
For my part as a textile major I thought this was all bullshit, although now that I’m old I understand what they were getting at.
The next part of my lecture we will look at the differences between art and design. Reply “STOP” to unsubscribe from Memories of Art School.
SUBSCRIBE! We need more textile perspectives for practical sustainability, especially re: aesthetics. I saw your arts and crafts comment and immediately related, this is exactly where American discourse in understanding and appreciation for Art falls apart (especially women in art). I think there’s a real opportunity to harness this inherent entanglement in art appreciation and redirect an arts and crafts style that shapes a Micheal’s discount tchotchke to be a sustainability focused work of art.
Disclosure: I went to art school.
The talk was, art is about exploring ideas and generating thought. Art doesn’t serve a purpose aside from creating new ideas. This is different from something like pottery, where the goal is to have a really pretty mug or ashtray. This is the “art and craft dichotomy”. Craft is about making functional items in a beautiful or interesting way. Textiles, jewelry, furniture, pottery. It’s about skilled people creating items for the betterment of daily life. A mug, beautifully made as it may be, won’t ever be art unless you drill holes in it, put it on a plith and title it “My Meaningless Existence” or something. Art won’t help you about your day except giving you fresh viewpoints on the workaday world.
Viewed from this lens, the bower birds are building these things to get laid. They are craftsmen.
For my part as a textile major I thought this was all bullshit, although now that I’m old I understand what they were getting at.
The next part of my lecture we will look at the differences between art and design. Reply “STOP” to unsubscribe from Memories of Art School.
SUBSCRIBE! We need more textile perspectives for practical sustainability, especially re: aesthetics. I saw your arts and crafts comment and immediately related, this is exactly where American discourse in understanding and appreciation for Art falls apart (especially women in art). I think there’s a real opportunity to harness this inherent entanglement in art appreciation and redirect an arts and crafts style that shapes a Micheal’s discount tchotchke to be a sustainability focused work of art.