Response to Mary Marcil: Art

My very last blog of my freshman year goes to the fantabulously scrumptulescent Mary Marcil, who asks: Will there be a point in which art ceases to grow?

Since art is created by humans, it will keep changing as long as humans keep changing. With every new historical event, new art forms are created--like when exiled Jewish artists wanted to find a way to portray the horror of the Holocaust. With every new decade, styles and art forms change--like with the creation of pop art. Humans as a species are perpetually developing new ideas, materials, interests, and perspectives. This makes art an ever-fluid and changing thing.

I do not believe humans will ever stop changing and developing. History teaches us otherwise. Even with every old style or fad that makes a come-back in our culture today, there are hundreds of new styles and fads. As a result, art will never stop changing and developing.

So, to answer Mary's question, I think the only point in which art will cease to grow will be when humans cease to populate the earth. Until then, it will not stop growing. I'm glad, though. I think it's a beautiful, wonderful thing. :)

Question in response (even though nobody will answer it because it's the last blog): What time period do you think had the most inspiring visual art?

So this Drag Queen Came to School...

She was performing at B-GLAD's 2010 Drag Dance. I went with a bunch of friends, not really knowing what to expect. I had never seen a drag queen up close. I mean, I've watched RENT a million times and love the character of Angel. Also, when I was living in Austin, Texas there was this guy named Leslie who was almost like a tourist attraction. Everyone knew him and joked about him and such. He would often walk down the street in leopard-print bikinis and other ridiculous outfits of the sort. I had never met him myself, though; I had only seen him in passing.

Anyway, Miss Sherry Vine is a New York City drag queen, and she was fabulous to watch and hang out with. She was at the drag dance to sing some parodies she had written. There were many of them that were redone Lady Gaga songs and then some Broadway tunes, with a few others mixed in. She was really funny and I enjoyed her performance, but lately I've been wondering...

People who write/perform parodies definitely have a certain level of artistic creativity. However, they are just redoing other people's songs. I suppose they should receive some credit, yes, but I think most of the credit should go to the original artist.

THAT train of thought got me thinking about cover bands--bands that just play other people's songs and add a few twists of their own. For instance, many modern punk-rock bands will redo songs of other genres and just make them a little edgier. I began to wonder if those people could really be considered artists and awarded credit.

Question: How much credit do you think parody performers and cover bands should receive, respectively? Can they be considered artists?

Glass-Blowing Blows my Mind

Glass-blowing is a very intricate process which involves taking a molten piece of glass and administering a small amount of air to it in order to inflate and expand it. This creates, essentially, a glass bubble which hardens as the glass cools down. The people blowing the glass--called glass-smiths--can shape and layer the glass by applying different amounts of air to different thicknesses of molten glass. Once cooled, they can then add color by either dyeing or painting the glass.

The above process is used to make many things, including sculptures, bowls, vases, beads, pipes and other pieces (yeah, I went there), and so much more. Each glass-smith has unique styles and techniques for blowing glass, and I find the process and the products fascinating. I definitely believe there is an artist element involved.

One thing we discussed in class is the difference between art and craft. We agreed as a group that things such as knitting and making oriental rugs were crafts--not art--because the products had a practical use and were not just meant to provide aesthetic beauty. The products of glass-blowing are definitely beautiful pieces, but many of them also have a practical use, as well.

Therefore, my question: Would you consider glass-blowing an art or a craft? Why?

Response to Marek Krawczyk: Dead in the Water

Marek asked, What's an instance of an art where the author or creator takes all the credit?

While Marek brought up a good point in his blog--that there are many forms of art that require collaboration and a distribution of credit--there are still many instances where there is one sole contributor of creative ideas, talents, skills, etc. Some artists work with others to complete a project, yes, and there are some art forms that simply cannot be completed without multiple people coming together to create the final project (for example, the majority of movies and theatrical performances). However, there are several artists in the world who choose to work alone.

I believe literary authors to be the best example of artists who take all the credit for their work. I exclude non-fiction from this group, as non-fiction works are often written by more than one author and I do not believe writing non-fiction is an art anyway; it is simply a retelling of facts. Many fiction writers and poets, however, compose books upon books of their own work without help from others.

Another example of artists who deserve all the credit for their work are those musicians who write, sing, and play their own music. While this is certainly a diminishing group of people in this day and age (thanks to technology and other factors that enable people of lesser talent to receive equal praise and adoration), there are definitely still people who can accomplish this feat. Chase Coy, for example, writes his own songs, sings his own lyrics, accompanies himself on the guitar, and--at 17 years of age--one was of the biggest self-produced artists on the rise. I would definitely say that he deserves all the credit for his work and then some, and there are plenty of other music artists like him in the world.

My question in response is this: Do you think it takes more effort to collaborate on a project with other artists, or to work individually to create something? Why?