Art.
Art is a weird thing !
Does a lot of it, fall under the description, decorative ? Does it always have to have a meaning ?
Can it be both ?
Artists, that start out as rebels, for example, the Brit Art generation, started out a bit like punk rock did, but they've all become 'established' now, literally, part of the establishment. In St Ives, here in Cornwall, one of them has filled Tate St Ives with balloons. Another, who started out as the 'enfant terrble', with a shark is selling deck chairs on his site ! Another, who made an infamous bed, is making sweet little pictures of her cat !
All very decorative ! In Cornwall, there are countless artists selling decorative works to mainly, tourists. None of it is serious stuff. Even, the more serious galleries do it. So, is it art ? Or is it decoration ? I've done it myself sold hundreds of landscapes of Cornwall. As an illustrator, the work was always an applied art. The book cover had to have a piece of artwork on it that made people want to buy it. I should think, that most work sold in commercial galleries, ends up decorating a wall in someone's house. Not in a public gallery, for all to see.
Artists have to make a living. I do.
What got me started, on this entry, was I was sitting at my desk, and there, next to it was my Picasso mug, with Guernica on it. A painting constructed, as a protest against the fascist regime in Spain, and the slaughter of innocents by Nazi dive bombers. Now decorating my mug !
I know the meaning of the work. But does everybody, who buys it. Or do they think it's just a nice decorative mug ?
What do you think ?
Stephen
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