Comments | philmosophy: The Economics of Reality

philmosophy

The Economics of Reality

Feb 03, 2008 01:29

Definitions of reality frequently reflect underlying economic interests. Consider, for instance, the story of a very successful contemporary painter named Marla Olmstead. Marla's paintings have been compared in style and spirit to the work of Jackson Pollock and currently sell for about $6,000 a piece, though one gallery owner thinks they could ( Read more... )

Comments 27

iaaphoto February 3 2008, 07:18:33 UTC

As someone who loves art but doesn't generally pay for it at all, the idea of what people who have thousands of dollars to spend on a canvas do with their money isn't really a huge concern to me. I feel these kinds of art buyers will always have something exciting to splurge on, and it often won't be anything of lasting societal value ( ... )

iaaphoto February 3 2008, 07:23:33 UTC

Back to the direct topic, I have very little interest in her art except as a discussion point. I may come back to examining why later, but in terms of the actual paintings I just don't care.

iaaphoto February 3 2008, 07:32:29 UTC

Ok, I'm back. I feel the real art here has not been done by her. The paintings aren't really anything that special. Her understanding of color is not better than Kandinsky and her rythm is not more interesting than Pollock. The only thing new she has brought to the scene is her age, and that isn't her introduction... it's been introduced by others. To me, "they," probably her parents, possibly publicist, etc, are the artist. The build up and publicity machine behind this is quite impressive. Her website is designed to force how special she is to an extreme amount. I sound bitter, but I'm really not upset about this, it does create interesting discussion, which I think is one of the main goals of good art.

c4us4_su1 February 3 2008, 07:41:14 UTC

Other than generating interesting discussion, what merit has her art? I would hope there is something authentically artistic about it, because her young age can't be the only reason she's gaining fame and recognition. I mean, when I was 4 I was making paintings, and while they were impressive for my age I certainly wouldn't have been able to sell them for thousands (or hundreds or even tens) of dollars. Do you think that there must be something "good" about her art, or do you think she just got swept up in good marketing hype?

iaaphoto February 3 2008, 08:29:01 UTC

The idea is that she made a painting and someone had the idea to try and sell it or put it in a gallery. I highly doubt this was her idea at age two.

For a long long time, the artist has been defined as one who creates work and then shows it and/or sells it.

Just the act of creating has not been the only part, since every person creates ( ... )

Thread 7

c4us4_su1 February 3 2008, 07:32:24 UTC

Definitions of reality frequently reflect underlying economic interests.

Could you explain to me what you are aiming for with this statement? I think maybe your point was that whether something is art is a function of what people are willing to pay for it. Before I comment on your topic, I want to make sure I see it as you do.

philmosophy February 3 2008, 16:14:14 UTC

I didn't write this statement, the author of the whole excerpt did. What I believe he means is that our different interpretations of what things are and why they are reflects how we portray them economically.

If you scan the comments of this entry, you'll see that we're all coming up with our own definitions or ideas of what reality is and how it links with economics.

c4us4_su1 February 5 2008, 00:15:27 UTC

Oops. I was sleepy when I read it, I didn't pick up on that. Haha.

galileah_galile February 3 2008, 08:48:39 UTC

seeing as what people buy is their business and anything is art if you say it is (I don;t mean that in a snarky way, I truly believe it) then I don't see the controversy.

And Schizopolis is AWESOME.
You'll love Elmo

iaaphoto February 3 2008, 08:52:12 UTC

Everything is art, but most of it is crap. Of course, the trickiest art lover can make anything genius.

Edit: I need to clarify that first statement, I was sort of joking. I do think that the majority of things that people find the need to label as art aren't that good... but the majority of reality is excellent.

agreeing in a different way galileah_galile February 3 2008, 09:27:27 UTC

I think of art more as the moment when you assign meaning to something. That object/occurence will not have the same meaning for everyone, and will have no meaning to many/most. So yeah, I think we are on the same page-in a different language.

Re: agreeing in a different way iaaphoto February 3 2008, 09:30:14 UTC

Yes, that's very close to how I see it, as a sort of metaphor. We most often think of it as a visual one, but there are many other forms, of course.

Which is why I think this whole thing is excellent as a sort of commentary on the art world, but the paintings themselves aren't anything extraordinary.

Thread 14

conrad_zaar February 3 2008, 21:47:51 UTC

I hope I don't sound too cynical if I suggest that most of the people who spend tens of thousands of dollars on art don't really know or care anything about art. They want the financial investment and, much more importantly, they want the hip, chic image. For them, art is a class marker, a shibboleth that designates their place in social and economic pecking order. From this perspective, the function of the whole institution of art galleries and art criticism is to create a classification and hierarchy of art, so that rich people will know what they are supposed to buy. The fact that these particular paintings were made by a four-year-old is the most crucial aspect of their marketing appeal to the swanky New Yorker crowd.

That said, I think the question of their institutional status is quite separate from their aesthetic interest. My interest in art is entirely amateur, but to my eyes, they are very good paintings, and the Jackson Pollock comparison seems inescapable. I became aware of Olmstead a few years ago when she was ( ... )