What's with modern art?

[Mark Hennebury]

Monty Python, Brilliant! as always. Thanks for that.

No it isn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

[Jim Koepke]

No it isn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

LOL! I have enjoyed many hours of Monty Python (and the Flying Circus) and especially like John Cleese for his wit.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

…

A guy who had signed up for one of my classes asked me to review some furniture that he had just purchased. Background; he was a well paid executive type and interested in furniture-making as a hobby, he told me he had done lots of researching furniture companies and had purchased an expensive Cherry living set from one of the top companies.
…

If you have read many of my posts you know my parents owned a furniture & appliance store for many years. After my mother passed and appliances were more than my dad could handle it was mostly just furniture.

Roll top desks were a popular item at the time but people always commented his were much more expensive than the others they had seen. Finally he decided to have one of the lower cost roll top desks on the floor. He would show people the differences in construction such as the oak desk having end grain on the all of the pieces and the less expensive desk had a veneer covering the end of the plywood or particle board. He would show the dovetails on the drawers compared to the stapled construction of doors in the less expensive desk. After all he would have them lift first the inexpensive desk followed by the oak desk. After all of that, many folks still purchased the less expensive desk, others appreciated something that could stay in the family for a few generations.

I've listened to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, though I do not think any of their recordings are in my music collection. I do like Benny Goodman or Glenn Miller among many other artists from ABBA to Wicket Tinkers.

jtk

[Mark Hennebury]

It reminds me of a passage in a book written by a retired drug smuggler, where he mentions how, upon release from prison, he took a legitimate job as a salesman for a company, and how alien he found the concept of having to convince a customer to buy your product.

If you have read many of my posts you know my parents owned a furniture & appliance store for many years. After my mother passed and appliances were more than my dad could handle it was mostly just furniture.

Roll top desks were a popular item at the time but people always commented his were much more expensive than the others they had seen. Finally he decided to have one of the lower cost roll top desks on the floor. He would show people the differences in construction such as the oak desk having end grain on the all of the pieces and the less expensive desk had a veneer covering the end of the plywood or particle board. He would show the dovetails on the drawers compared to the stapled construction of doors in the less expensive desk. After all he would have them lift first the inexpensive desk followed by the oak desk. After all of that, many folks still purchased the less expensive desk, others appreciated something that could stay in the family for a few generations.

I've listened to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, though I do not think any of their recordings are in my music collection. I do like Benny Goodman or Glenn Miller among many other artists from ABBA to Wicket Tinkers.

jtk

[Kevin Jenness]

There's plenty of bad modern art just as there's bad old or classical art. More of the bad old stuff has disappeared because it was perceived as such and not worth preserving over time and changing perspectives. That's as true of furniture as painting. The 17th century is lauded for magnificent furniture, but you can be sure there was at least an equal proportion of ugly and poorly made stuff as today (though smaller quantities due to mass production). Perhaps Jeff Koons and Andres Serrano will be forgotten in 500 years if there are any human beans around then.

My approach is to look at lots of art and craft (let's not get started on that distinction), ignore the market aspects and appreciate the pieces that surprise and excite and change my mind. I like some works (for instance) by Michael Heizer, Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy and Jackson Pollack that aren't examples of individual technical virtuosity but have a presence that says things that can't be or are better off not put into words. If you think I'm stupid or gullible to feel that way, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[Mark Hennebury]

"If you think I'm stupid or gullible to feel that way, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man." That is not what I said.