A Thousand Approaches to Art…

I am an advertising major so in most things I do in this class I look for a way that art can be used in advertising, which is what I think a good modern purpose of art is (sorry if that makes anyone cringe. I really appreciated Jack Ryan’s use of humor in his projects and I thought it was interesting to see how one video can inspire such a project as Blue Skies: Thar She Blows. I also really enjoyed his Scriabin’s Mustache piece because through his work it seems like Jack finds something that is amusing or entertaining to him and turns it into a piece of art. Because of this viewing his art allows the critic to see not only something about the artist, but also about his sense of humor. This is especially fun for me to see because in advertising, humor is often used to promote a project. In fact one of MY favorite Youtube videos is an advertisement for a brand of cheese sold in Egypt:  This video also reminded me of Jack’s work because in a way (while very different from his intent) the song in the commercial sticks with the viewer, similar to the mystic sequence in Scriabin’s Mustache. As far as some of the other videos Jack showed, I had mixed feelings. I really didn’t like the video Salt because it was incredibly creepy and inhuman. And honestly I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the Sabine Hagman video nor the Walnut Economics one. I felt like the reading this week demanded I give more thought into what I really think the purpose of art is and for that reason I had a hard time reading it. Strangely enough I found I appreciated some of Hilton Kramer’s points. It was refreshing to hear from someone in this book that isn’t talking about how the world is going to end. I thought his views about the world were actually fairly valid on most points. However on another note, Mr. Kramer seems like one of the most unpleasant people in the world to talk to. Now this may be because his tone cannot be conveyed through writing, but to me he seems highly impersonal (I suppose, as his view of art is). Alternately, Satish Kumar’s view of art was also one that I appreciated. He says “the artist’s role is to create, among people, and to somehow be the bridge, or the instigator, for developing a sense of reverence and beauty” (139). I think this is a view of art that is easy to adopt because those who view art do so for that purpose, and those who create art seek to do so.