Yes Rick, must say you are right too to certain extent. many may agree art is expression, being the art piece the message, the artist the conveyor, and the observer the recipient of that message, thus generating comunication. It seems that nowdays a very elitesque grupo judge and tell people what is in, and what should be considered quality art. Personally, I am not too fond of that concept whereby a piece is considered art if it generates some sort of emotion in the viewer. Namely, art does that, but there are proposals that even though they have an impact on the observers emotions, not necessarily should be considered art. In my opinion, there`s got to be an ethical line to differenciate art from what is not, what`s right and what is wrong. Failing to do so I believe would gradually drag any aspect of man`s life into anarchy and chaos. Order requires effort, doing things right, being creative and not destructive also require effort... Nelson.

Hi Jason, sorry guys, I had my computer down, but I`m very pleased to be here again to share with you all.Very surprised and pleased whether we agree or not on certain views. Definetely, the topic is controversial, and afects many of us artists. Jason, couldn`t agree more with you. It can get complicated trying to define the undefineable.Nonetheless, come on, there`s got to be a line of reason to deferenciate art from what obscurely pretends to be. Now, browsing a bit over the subject, many seem to agree on what good art is, by measuring the amount of time a viewer stays in front of a piece of art... Nelson.

Hi Jamie, most people will agree that the end doesn`t always justify the means. Probably, and here I`m giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, he tried to convey a worthwhile message... wrong way of doing it though! So really, it`s seems obvious this a case more of animal cruelty than art. Now, what about those "creative" artists and art critics who consider a crap on a plate to be a genuine art piece. Or those who think a coke spilled over a table may be some conceptual or abstract art form. Truely I love abstract work, but lets put some work into it, let`s not abuse some concepts, and have some respect for the viewer. Don`t you think? Recently, I observed the art of this chinese guy having his art showed in the gukenheimen (New York I think), excuse my spelling and maybe the wrong state. Anyway, it`s different, it`s creative and amazing how he hang 7 or 9 cars up in such an explosive way high into the ceiling. The dogs herd leaping high and far to crash into a glass or wall is also an outstanding installation, it`s art, and good art. Checkèm out! Nelson.

Hey Dick,

Thanks for clearing that up...goes to show how easily "NEWS" can be misleading. I fell into the trap...this is why I don't watch t.v. I am glad to hear that this was just a stunt.

As for the starving dog, after reading the blog on it it makes more sense. To get a reaction I have to agree as well that the Artist must take on a radical approach...

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

Hey Dick, that`s right man Costa Rica, one of the nicest places in Central America. Here in these countries, including mine, dog rights, animals rights in a broader sense, do not exist. Furthermore, human rights are usually violated, so what could we expect to happen to helpless animals. This subject is off the art and crafts topic, so won`t go on with it, but sadly we the intelligent beings managed to mix them up very creatively huh! Thanks for input Dick. nelson.

goya had every intention of offending people due to his increasing despair of humanity brought on by being a witness to the atrocities of war. he was however an established artist when he decided to create this so-called offensive work.

michaelangelo fought with the church for some twenty odd years over that ceiling and repainted it himself once or twice and the factoid about his "bonking" the boy who inspired David is conjecture at best

impressionism was a response to academic art which had become largely about technical profiency at portraying a specific ideal rather than the individual viewpoint of the artist. academic art is sort of the boy band of art history.

when stravinsky's rite of spring was performed a few months later as an orchestral piece without the accompanying ballet it was met with thunderous applause.

in each case the artwork can stand alone on it's own merit without the scandal to make it interesting

i agree that these images are attractive and well made, but would we even be aware of them were it not for the blood or urine. and without the bodily fluids has serrano created anything that anyone with the appropriate equipment and technical knowledge could not recreate? if we weren't told there was actual dung inside that gold foil would the artwork be nearly as well known? you also have to keep in mind that probably 99.99% of the people aware of such "scandalous" artwork will never actually see that work in person. what they will see is a print in a book or a broadcast image either on tv or the internet probably accompanying an article detailing the scandal.

i believe that the boundaries of what we define as art need to be pushed every day. i also believe that the artist needs to take into account the consequences of their actions not only on a personal level but how it affects the rest of the art world. i'm not saying as an artist every artistic decision should be based on what others think. that would be academic art. what i am saying is that an artist should be concerned with how they push the boundary.
take for example robert mapplethorpe. because of six photos portraying various types of "disagreeable" images he and his entire body of work are to many a taboo subject. for several years he was a sort of rallying cry for censoring the arts. the actual artistic merit has no bearing in the face of the scandal and due to his early death robert will for a long time be known for his porn rather than his flowers.

as to the issue that began this blog i'm glad the dog didn't die but it was still tortured. the artist chose to do this and the gallery that hosted the performance gave this action creedence. that's where the boundary has been pushed in the wrong direction.

as to what is or isn't art i like to apply this small piece of common sense

a gold plated turd is still a turd

i got on my high horse and couldn't see the post about how it was faked and the dog wasn't really harmed. i still stand by my statement that artists should be resposible with what they put out there.

and a turd is still a turd

You said it, Jason. I agree with it.

SmokyRick
Rick Crawford at Smoky Forge

I have seen a bunch of the Offili paintings in person- something I recommend doing before judging another artists's work and intentions- and they are far from "gold plated turds". Me, I like the work quite a bit, and consider them to be very sophisticated comments on how black people in general, and africans in particular, are pigeonholed in contemporary art and life.
Dung has been a traditional material to use in african art for centuries- there are masks in many major museums using dung, and it has various mythological meanings in various african cultures- so when Offili uses it, he both refers to and plays against our stereotypes of what african art should be.
In my mind, the paintings stand very well on their own, without knowing about the dung. And many of his paintings dont have any dung in them at all, and still are sold and exhibited by people who genuinely like them.

As for the historical stuff, in virtually every case, the art was made for the artists own reasons, and the scandal came afterwards- just like the Mapplethorpe, Offili, and Serrano works. These guys were all real artists, who made work that offended, and other work that didnt, based on following their own muses- they were not professional attention getters who only did offensive stuff to get in the spotlight.

I dont defend the dog starvation piece- it was dumb, a shallow conceptual idea, with none of the craftsmanship, consideration of beauty, or professionalism of the Offili or Serrano life long bodies of work.
I am not interested in the "scandal" per se, when I say I like Andre Serrano's Piss Christ. Of course, the use of the crucifix adds meaning to the piece- but all of his large photos are just stunning in person, regardless of the subject matter- the guy is an amazing photographer.

I respond much more to pieces like that, which question faith, blind obedience, and conservative tradition, than I do to actual religious art, which I usually find quite pedantic, repetitive, and boring. I have seen literally hundreds of crucifixes, baby jesuses, and madonna paintings in churches and museums in italy- and none of them command my attention or make me think the way the Serrano photo does.

Hi Ries: I had read about Gillermo Guevara starving a dog to death in a Costa Rica museum, and frankly didn`t want to do research on that. It simply made me sick. Nevertheless, I did some research upon your request,as you mentioned and googled: artist+costarica+museum+dog death, and the few articles I read all point out the dog was tied, starved and died.There`s an overwhelming number of sites dealing with the happening. Judge yourselves. He did not answer at the question of whether the dog was given food, or if the dog died... He refused to answer!Here`s something copied straight from internet: "4.002.266 people demand that Vargas not be allowed to exhibit in the Honduras Biennale!!!! This is an unprecedented global outcry - 4 million people cannot be wrong." This is from 2007,when it happened,so I believed the numbers that agree this is not art may have sky rocketed by now. Certainly, I cannot comment on the piss christ issue.Glad though, you`re not for animal cruelty either.Defining whether is cruelty, or art, would then depend on how many people agree on either side of those opposed views? How do we Know Ries? It`s rather easy to say art has no boundaries nor is there a definition for it. That being said, art is everything...My believe is that behind any aspect of human life, the issue of ETHICS is Vital!but lets not forget the concept of what`s ethical today may varie from what it was in the past, or what it`ll be in the future. I sincerely appreciate your input too. nelson.

Hey Dick,

Well explained! I'm not a scholar in art history, and felt at the moment that I read the beginning of this blog horrified about what I had thought to be truth about the dog. After reading the blog on the stunt I was then relieved. I felt that if someone was actually hurting another living thing that then the line should be drawn.

I also agree after watching zeitgeist the movie, in plane site, and why we fight that there is really so much more control out side of us, and how we are led by fear. I too fell into the trap of believing in bad reporting, got upset, and lost site of what truth really is.

After reading all the posts to this blog, and being enlightened I don't have the judgments that I had when I first read about the dog. This blog has been powerful in it's self, and has made me think with all the different views.

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

nic,
this is probably one of the best explanations i've seen of how art occurs. in college i had to take a required course called the philosophy of aesthetics and had you taught the class i think it would have been far more meaningful. what class was this lesson from?

jason

Hi Nic; very instructional concepts, and could never disagree with them. The reason I brought this topic to open discussion is that I had and still have no idea of what art is or ought to be today. Reading on the subject, found some very sound, recognized, famous artist, and critics, wondering about and saying hey, is that art? No matter what, one will always finds great numbers of people advocating for either side or view of this rather complex and subjective topic. I admit to being on the conservative side, less radical so to speak, but again... it`s now my guess that I may have a slight idea of what art may be all about: "anything goes, never mind ethics and other limits, if you can get away with it, express yourself, and whatever the outcome is, it will be ART. How`s that? Thanks everyone for interesting comments and reactions. nelson.