artists or con-artists?

This is quite a peculiar display of art among different people.

In class last week, we were talking about the idea of one's trash being another man's treasure - but more along the lines of using a media others will rarely look at and consider beautiful and creating beautiful art. For example, I converted a Tazo tea box into a pinhole camera that takes absolutely stunning photos. This tea box would probably have ended up in a dump, along with many other potential artistic mediums.

This article had a bit of a cynical tone to it; and while I would have thought the same thing a year ago, I've grown to appreciate this radical approach on art. It's new and innovative.

Take this sculpture/bust for example:

Mark Quinn, "Self"

Upon first glance, I couldn't tell the medium was extremely bizarre. I figured it was painted and burned. Then, you realize it's blood - a lot of it. Self-inflicted. Now, I don't know what drove Mark Quinn to think of this, but this is the epitome of self-portrait, and while grotesque, it is so brilliant. (Honestly, I can't bear to keep looking at his works)

It's the process of making the art that I think is important. Anyone could scrap together a few items and create something; however, if during the process, the artist does not gain anything other than the tangible object, it loses it's meaning completely.

While, this blog is not the normal artistic medium, I've gained a lot of insight. I've been, in a sense, forced to look at art, question it, think about it, come back to it constantly, and write about it.

Recently, I've been drawn back into the graphics world, thanks to this blog. In an effort to get a more cohesive blog, I've been testing out new design elements (and failing). I'm also trying to give this blog a new approach, especially on the photo aspect of it. I started posting up pinhole and large format photos, and received a lot more feedback. Essentially, I'd want to post up these photos for an online critique. Same photos I've turned in (or will turn in) for my photo class; however, getting a wider range of people (outside of my photo class) to critique them. We'll see where this one goes.