http://www.saltshaker.net/20060102/two-takes-on-modern Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:06:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060102/two-takes-on-modern#comment-218 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » On Blogging and Modern Art Fri, 03 Mar 2006 13:02:40 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/?p=216#comment-218 [...] I have commented more than once on my complete lack of ability to appreciate modern art. After our visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, my friend Frank gave me a copy of Tom Wolfe’s The Painted Word. I stuck it on my reading pile and only grabbed it yesterday when I knew I needed something to read while standing in line for my aforementioned fingerprints. In the after-moments of reading the book, all I could think of was, if I could write like Tom Wolfe, I could have written this book. Of course, I’d have to have put in the time he did reading commentary on art, something I just don’t think I could bring myself to do. The important point, however, is that, like his epiphany at the beginning of the book, I “discovered” that Modern Art exists and is appreciated only by those who have the code, who know the theory, who understand the text behind the art. Without that knowledge, looking at Modern Art is simply an exercise in futility - one such as myself really is only capable of seeing squiggles, lines, and paint drips. If, however, you know the theory - if you know why the artist painted what he or she painted - it all becomes clear, and suddenly you can see the greatness in the work. Modern Art is the illustration of its own theories. Modern Art is not something to be appreciated for itself, nor how well it goes with the sofa in the corner. I feel so much better about myself now. Given my lack of commitment to understand those theories I shall probably never appreciate Modern Art, but I can go blithely forward knowing that it is by choice as opposed to lack of perceptual ability. [...] [...] I have commented more than once on my complete lack of ability to appreciate modern art. After our visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, my friend Frank gave me a copy of Tom Wolfe’s The Painted Word. I stuck it on my reading pile and only grabbed it yesterday when I knew I needed something to read while standing in line for my aforementioned fingerprints. In the after-moments of reading the book, all I could think of was, if I could write like Tom Wolfe, I could have written this book. Of course, I’d have to have put in the time he did reading commentary on art, something I just don’t think I could bring myself to do. The important point, however, is that, like his epiphany at the beginning of the book, I “discovered” that Modern Art exists and is appreciated only by those who have the code, who know the theory, who understand the text behind the art. Without that knowledge, looking at Modern Art is simply an exercise in futility - one such as myself really is only capable of seeing squiggles, lines, and paint drips. If, however, you know the theory - if you know why the artist painted what he or she painted - it all becomes clear, and suddenly you can see the greatness in the work. Modern Art is the illustration of its own theories. Modern Art is not something to be appreciated for itself, nor how well it goes with the sofa in the corner. I feel so much better about myself now. Given my lack of commitment to understand those theories I shall probably never appreciate Modern Art, but I can go blithely forward knowing that it is by choice as opposed to lack of perceptual ability. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060102/two-takes-on-modern#comment-177 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Some things are just wrong… Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:34:14 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/?p=216#comment-177 [...] I should be kept away from modern art. Or, from my point of view, modern art should be kept away from me. I’ve tried, I’ve really tried, over the years to understand, to comprehend, to enjoy. I spent an entire day with my friend Arthur, who’s now curating somewhere down in Florida, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as he tried to get me to recognize the genius of Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol. If you’ve been reading along, you know my friend Frank and I went to the remodeled MOMA back around Christmas time. It’s not to say I don’t like anything in these places, I just don’t like much of it. I realized that in all the time since I moved here, and vacationing here, I’d never been to MALBA, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, and, since, as I pointed out above, the Municipal Museum was once again closed, I thought I’d give it a go. [...] [...] I should be kept away from modern art. Or, from my point of view, modern art should be kept away from me. I’ve tried, I’ve really tried, over the years to understand, to comprehend, to enjoy. I spent an entire day with my friend Arthur, who’s now curating somewhere down in Florida, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as he tried to get me to recognize the genius of Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol. If you’ve been reading along, you know my friend Frank and I went to the remodeled MOMA back around Christmas time. It’s not to say I don’t like anything in these places, I just don’t like much of it. I realized that in all the time since I moved here, and vacationing here, I’d never been to MALBA, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, and, since, as I pointed out above, the Municipal Museum was once again closed, I thought I’d give it a go. [...]

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