Grayson’s What is Art
I remember having to think about this questionas part of a research project I undertook while I was studying at Exeter. As it was about video art I decided to undertake a series of video interviews asking the question “what is art?” It happened to be good fun, and I even managed to interview Godfrey Warsdale, who was then the Curator of Southampton City Art Gallery. But thinking back no one came up with the range of boundaries our recent Reith Lecturer Grayson Perry identified.
I don't remember much about the outcome of the interviews except that all pretty much agreed that art is communication. Grayson briefly referenced this in his repeat of a quote that art had to be about something, that it should encourage a call and response reflex, reference a historical context and generally have something to say. So, lots of different types of communication, but the rest of the lecture seemed to brush this piece of academic theory aside.
Instead, Grayson moved on to discuss the more visual aspects of identifying what is art, ie size, the familiar, endorsement and the price tag!
Interestingly, on reflection my pursuit of what is art left me with a positive feeling about who I was and what we were all doing. However, I think Grayson’s was far nearer the truth. Again we laughed, but it was uncomfortable.
In this age of instantness we no longer want to think. Instead we need a quick way to identify/label something. Passing through the gift shop on the way out and picking something up as we do - our own personal response to what we've seen.
This ironic critic of art was explored in the film titled Exit Through the Gift Shop. In the film we meet Thierry Guetta a French immigrant in Los Angelas and learn about his obsession with street art. It’s a documentary about someone obsessed with documenting what he sees – sounds familiar. It’s pretty harmless and he eventually meets his hero Banksy.
This is the turning point in the story. Banksy suggests that Thierry should make his own art and the result is a breath taking twist in the plot, which is both devastating and very funny. Because here the film plays with the idea that everyone can be an artist. That everyone can hit the big time and make their fortune, in this case on the back of art. But it is the final comment by Banksy that leaves you not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Thierry’s success as a result of his hero’s advice leaves the hero to despair and the conclusion that he will never tell anyone to make art again.
I suppose like Banksy I believed that art is about communication and therefore enjoyed others ability to express their ideas, themselves and their creativity visually. It doesn’t make them an artist, but it does help them to appreciate art and understand something about being an artist through the process of doing. However, that’s the theory; the reality is a little different.