las gradas 003
from Onesock's very excellent comment:
I mean she is fully in the act of discovery ON STAGE. There is no rehashing of rehearsed activity. Perhaps thats a way on untangling the web, thru thinking and FEELING your way around each strand.Why do I always feel embarrassed by performance art? Why when I think of people teaching art, doing art or understanding art, does no one ever talk about untangling a web, and feeling your way through its complexity? If I wanted to do science, I guess I would do science.
Yet there is nothing in Nina's performance that embarrasses me. It is profoundly personal and un-pretentious. Think about doing and presenting and understanding painting (or concept) like that.
Yes! It is such a difficult thing to strip the topic bare.
ReplyDeleteA recent thread on Ed Winkleman's blog developed the general consensus (among Ed and the commentors) that an artist must have some level of mastery over a medium before experimenting with other forms. I commented that , although I can see truth in this idea, I wanted to examine HOW that works, what are the alternatives to that idea that work? When does one achieve mastery and why is this important?
I am not complaining because I love participationg on that blog. But your words strike a cord in that I often have that feeling in any discussion, and not just regarding art. There are layers here, lets examine them.
couldn't have said it better myself. I stopped reading winkelman's blog because I thought there was a general consensus that was just too open-minded for me. Art can be for everyone, of course, so why are so many people alienated by it? Part of the reason, I think, is that too many people on top of the heap rely on assumptions about personhood and even psychology that are not well addressed in "professionalized" art forums. Sometimes I call them art marketers, and sometimes I call them institutionalized. Not to simply call names, but to describe what I think is a steadfast refusal to describe the erotic and nurturing role that art plays in our lives. Too many layers down, and thinkers start running for cover.
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