Website review: If Martians curated an exhibition, ...
laodan discovered this in Arts
•1 reviews since Mar 6, 2008
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laodan discovered 4 months ago- If Martians put together an exhibition of Earth art, what would it contain? in The Guardian by Adrian Searle
... the Martian view of things is curiously narrow. Perhaps it is the humans doing their bidding who are having the problem. Many people, including critics and curators, have as much problem with art as your average alien. I, for one, am happy to admit that I do not know exactly what art is: I know what is called art, but that's not the same thing. Talking about what's good and bad art gets us into even more trouble. Art performs different functions, and not only at different times and in different places. We squabble and quibble and fight over it, beat each other over the head with it, and shove it in places it was never meant to go. Art appears to be central to our various human cultures, but to frequently masquerade as marginal, uncategorisable, and even useless. If Martians put together an exhibition of Earth art, what would it contain? The curse of the blockbuster Meteorite Lands on Buckingham Palace, 1998, by Cornelia Parker. 54 x 69 cm. Maple boxed frame map of London revealing burn mark left by a meteorite Photograph: British Council I don't believe one instant that aliens reaching earth could be so dumb as humans not to know the function that art exercises in societies. At least Adrian Searle is honest to recognize that ".... I do not know exactly what art is: I know what is called art, but that's not the same thing." But an alien specie that reaches earth could not be so ignorant, for, without art it could not have survived the negative consequences of the rational and mechanistic thought otherwise necessary to devise the tools and machinery to reach earth. If humanity is to survive the totalitarian destructiveness of modernity I believe that this can only occur by solving the question "what is art". This question reflects on who we are and how we are interrelated with all life and everything under the whole in which we are such tiny particles... If interested to read more about my take on "what is art" click here: Artsense
- If Martians put together an exhibition of Earth art, what would it contain? in The Guardian by Adrian Searle
