State of the "Art"

[Alex Ros]

Thanks for liking my Innsmouth sketch. Yeah, maybe when I find time I will try to do more "throughout" stuff with lovecraftian lore. Would love to make a good game or see a good movie dealing with the setting. Sadly DelToro wasn`t able to finance "At the Mountains of Madness" a few years ago.

Well I did like most of your sketches. Real great. Of course I didn't like all and everything, but in general I did love a lot of your ideas. Impressed. And by the way I do know real lot of painters/designers/photographers personally, so I am not the one who can be easily impressed. I am saying this because I think it's important to know, that someone is impressed by your work and truly got into it. I did invest my time and my brains, while looking through all of your Gallery, I took it as serious as I could.

Hmmmm, I think our main difference in thinking is that we consider art on the successfull deliverance of its purpose. While you appear to be of the opinion that art that fails to get a message across and is able to influence people is not art, I am of the opinion that even unsuccesfull art or "derailed/mislead" art is still art although it failed to get its point across. Maybe it is different though.

I am not that straight forward old grouchy man. I do not think that straight that art that fails to get a message across and is able to influence people is not art. I do not think so simply because shitty art is easily influencing people. All that mass-media is extremely influencial. But of course it's not art. So my thoughts on what is art and what is not are more pure. If there's an idea, new idea, a metaphysical discovery, then it's art. The word "new" is a keyword in my universe. If there's nothing new, then it's just... ummmh... than I just walk by.

Games might or might not be art, but I think we both can agree that there can be art found within certain games already (like certain parts of The Line or a certain creature design in an old Silent Hill game (like the bobblehead nurses that are a play on sexuality archetypes).).

Yup, totally agree. And by the way I am a big fan of those Japanese Silent Hill monsters. Not all of them of course, a lot of Silent Hill monsters are quite stupid and noninteresting. But for example Pyramid Head alone is nearly genious piece of real art. And yeah those nurses with the idea to invert what we used to perceive as sexual into horrible is real great and innovative. And by the way the word "invert" is also extremaly important in what I love in arts. It's hard to explain, but for example your own concept with a child (african girl in particular) with lovely eyes and... and eroded skull and is invert. Much better than the same invert of a sinless child into a monster at the Stephen Kings Pet Sematery. Stephen Kings invert is too straight-froward in comparison with your concept.

I`d like to mention that "art" has also changed throughout time. Michelangelo for instance was what people today would consider a freelance designer if he would be living right now. Much like DaVinci, Rembrandt and even Mucha (whom I consider the very first "true" advertising designer). They were contract workers that are mainly known for bringing the craft to the next level, but the "message" was often quite secondary. Especially illustration was often used to portrait certain moments, religious believes or persons that are of matter in their respective times. The camera changed everything and only then was art allowed (or "forced") into a puberty that brought forward styles like expressionism or kubism. A huge feat for society as it also was about getting a certain freedom of the mind. Now art was not mainly about the craft anymore, but also much more about cultural growth. For me, that is the reason why it is perfectly acceptable that some modern art isn`t all that impressive on a mere technological level.

Totally agree. Just nothing to add.

Oh and I agree with your statement that one has to keep an open mind. This is very true, especially as an artist or designer. But I do think it is not wrong to have some preferences. For instance I don`t "hate" goth scene music as I understand why it does exist...but given the choice between "Das Ich" ("batcave" I think?) or "Venetian Snares" (experimental electronic music) I will likely chose the later. It is part of my personality and what touches me more on an emotional level. It also puts me in a context with my social environment and allows me to "specialise" and expand on certain cultural branches that are in my interest. After all, I am a product of my environment and I don`t live forever. The reason why I am better with the pencil than with the brush.

Agree once and once again. I do have a lot of preferences. For example I do not like straight-forward clear things. For example, I do not like Tolstoy. I prefer questions than answers. I do not like when it's clear what author is thinking about this or that, I prefer сontradictory pieces of art. Lord of the Flies for example is one of my favourites of all the times.

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I think I derailed my own thread now. Originally it was more about the growing ignorance toward certain parts of art history and now we`re having a one on one discussion about artistic principles. Funny how these things go.

As for original purpose of the thread, I think that growing ignorance toward certain parts of art history is provoked by drastic change of global cultural preferences. Like you've said 200-300 years ago art was just a profession, simply just a job. As a result art was purely part of usual life, not something from the other planet. Now art and artists are divided from usual life, they're like a little bit crazy in the eyes of the masses. Here are normal usual people with normal usual lifes and jobs, and over there are the artists. Two different worlds, crossing over but different. That's the main problem. People doesn't percieve art as a usual job, vice versa they do percieve it like something UNusual. And that's the worst. Because artists themselv are used to think that they're not usual, they're "blessed". But they no more "blessed" than a talented cook, pizza maker. Even modders, I mean game-modders do think that they do something REAL special, they're special. I'm exaggerating, of course. It's not just black and white. But I think my message is clear.

P.S. Maaan... I haven't been writing so much since wasting time on writing that shit http://www.frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-18948.html