Next: art miami - it's worth a shot (9)
baffling, unnerving, belligerent
Post #273 • May 10, 2004, 6:35 AM • 5 Comments
Time's April 26 list of the 100 most influential people has one visual artist: Bruce Nauman. Richard Lacayo:
...if there is something about contemporary art that you find baffling or unnerving or belligerent, chances are Nauman is somewhere behind it.
While I don't care for Nauman's work, I don't deny his influence. I just want to point out that Linus Torvalds is on this list. So is Aung San Suu Kyi. So is Bono. Is Nauman, and the influence of belligerence, really the best that visual art can do?
2.
May 11, 2004, 3:26 AM
Most contemporary artists are actually
working in advertising influencing your
every move.
3.
May 11, 2004, 3:11 PM
I haven't seen the list, but it seems to me that Linus Torvalds, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Bono (the guy who got western nations to forgive billions of dollars of third-world debt, not the rock singer), at least, are pretty damned influential folks. Are you citing them as unworthy of being on the list? I sure can't think of any artist working right now more influential then them.
Which I guess sort of puts some things in perspective.
4.
May 11, 2004, 3:18 PM
No, Alesh, quite the opposite. But you got my point anyway.
5.
May 11, 2004, 6:44 PM
Perhaps it is worth mentioning that this list also celebrates Katie "Cute" Couric, Mark "Survivor" Burnett, and Simon "American Idol-Asshole" Cowell for having "...explored new territory, set new standards - and made the world an immeasurably richer place for all of us"...
1.
SC
May 11, 2004, 12:47 AM
Yes it is. The truth is that contemporary art doesn't matter to the vast majority of the world's people. Can you think of one example where it has actually made a difference in the world? I can't.