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When you go to the Pompidou Center in Paris, you are struck by one thing - The art there is at the frontier of what people might call art. It is certainly true what was once written in the New York Times that many people tend to look at modern art and simply say, "I could do that." It is a part of modern life that one is cynical about art because it does not necessary produce jobs, expand the economy, or allow someone to own a Porsche (which seems to be the criteria for value in today's America).
Of course, the idea is that this kind of narrow-minded critic does not, in fact, produce any art. That fact is what is most important about why we call something art in the first place. Art celebrates what was first done by someone in a genre or with a medium that makes it important because it is usually on the cutting edge. The Pompidou makes a point of presenting a wide range of modern art, from "straight paintings" to kinetic sculpture to avant-garde films. And they change their displays often. It seems that is in the spirit of the times...what is now center stage becomes old fast, and in order to keep up one has to be prepared to constantly change one's view.
I have begun to spend more time now on what I call art projects. To call anything I do art could be an example of extreme hubris. No one has ever called me an artist, and I have never had a juried show, and I have never sold anything that might be considered photographic art. Nonetheless, I have begun to think that what I think might be artistic about work I do is all that actually counts. What I present here is in the spirit of what the Pompidou artists show us.
RPW
Of course, the idea is that this kind of narrow-minded critic does not, in fact, produce any art. That fact is what is most important about why we call something art in the first place. Art celebrates what was first done by someone in a genre or with a medium that makes it important because it is usually on the cutting edge. The Pompidou makes a point of presenting a wide range of modern art, from "straight paintings" to kinetic sculpture to avant-garde films. And they change their displays often. It seems that is in the spirit of the times...what is now center stage becomes old fast, and in order to keep up one has to be prepared to constantly change one's view.
I have begun to spend more time now on what I call art projects. To call anything I do art could be an example of extreme hubris. No one has ever called me an artist, and I have never had a juried show, and I have never sold anything that might be considered photographic art. Nonetheless, I have begun to think that what I think might be artistic about work I do is all that actually counts. What I present here is in the spirit of what the Pompidou artists show us.
RPW