Art or Crap? You decide.

[Dave Loudin]

Ha! The creature has stolen the space modulator!

[Bob Campbell]

OOh, that makes me very angry.

[jag]

DID clean up around the base of the "art" so that people wouldn't be distracted by the construction still going on. Here's a completely untouched photo:

Ah, I see.

Well, to me, good art of any type should evoke some kind of reaction, be it positive or negative. If it's too "take-it-or-leave-it" then it's probably not making enough of a statement. If you don't notice something, then it's not as effective as it might be as an expression of art, IMHO.

[The People's DJ]

What's it supposed to be?

*shrug*

Its fuckin' junk that some jackoff nutjob is passing off as "art".
Hey...I just took a dump and it look like "art". Can I place that in a museum?

This is art:

This is junk:

[AmpedNow]

Maybe we're not getting the full effect... Is this the "front" side? It looks like there's something on the other side that isn't obvious from this picture angle.

Maybe there's a black hole back there.

Just hold on to your wallets as you pass by.

[Scott Reppert]

"I see two elephants making love to a men's glee club"...

[Jay Nunley]

If you judge abstract art with the idea it is supposed to "be" something you'll never like it. Just like traditional art it's about the emotional, nostalgic, or even physical reaction you have to the piece. In abstract art they skip the "mental trigger" of an representative object and go directly for the visceral reaction.

When I saw this piece in person my reaction was, "Ugh. Headache."

This is unforunate because The Clay Center is an altogether pleasant place and this thing doesn't fit with it at all. Why would you want to place a headache in the middle of a pleasant like that?

My judgment is that it is both art and crap. Most art is crap. Most music, literature, film, television, radio, internet, and all other forms of art are mostly crap. This is why art that isn't crap is so precious.

I don't like this piece.

You'll find I almost always don't like stuff that sucks.

[Hoosier Daddy]

"I see two elephants making love to a men's glee club"...

Ummm ... uh ... never mind.

[Jet Black]

I recognize that art is a benefit for everybody, and worth paying for. However, presuming tax money was spent on this commission, I can't help but think tax money, remember: $0.9 MILLION DOLLARS, was needslessly and extravagently wasted. Of course, if you think Tamarak is a jewel in this state's crown, you probably reject my complaint. I wonder how much it costs to put a bridge across the Ohio, because we could use a couple new ones. Roads fixed. Schools improved. Student parking at WVU. Nope. One uninspired piece of junk, somebody e;se made rich out of my taxes. Bad news, Mr. Citizen, property taxes increase next year - don't blame us, that's what it costs to operate all the government services you demand. $900,000. Pfft.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I recognize that art is a benefit for everybody, and worth paying for. However, presuming tax money was spent on this commission, I can't help but think tax money, remember: $0.9 MILLION DOLLARS, was needslessly and extravagently wasted. Of course, if you think Tamarak is a jewel in this state's crown, you probably reject my complaint. I wonder how much it costs to put a bridge across the Ohio, because we could use a couple new ones. Roads fixed. Schools improved. Student parking at WVU. Nope. One uninspired piece of junk, somebody e;se made rich out of my taxes. Bad news, Mr. Citizen, property taxes increase next year - don't blame us, that's what it costs to operate all the government services you demand. $900,000. Pfft.

I'm with you on that, Jet.

[genlock]

Art, through history, has always been the product of some patron or another.
Kings and Emperors would employ artisans to produce works glorifying their reign.
Rich landowners would do the same. These same patrons would employ see'ers and
fortune tellers to tell them stories that they wanted to hear. Astrologists were
highly regarded as a link to the deity thru the stars and their ability to predict the
future of star positions ant thus the future of the patron. It was truly a starving artist who had
the courage to tell his would-be patron he was ugly or his castle and accomplishments were
of poor quality. Actions like that were cause to terminate the artist, one way or the other.
In more recent times, governments like ours have taken to underwrite artists who present work for
shock value and the controversy it brings. Mapplethorpe and others come to mind. I have no idea why
we do this, as all of the great masterpieces we have ever seen have had to pass the scrutiny
of the funding body to survive. Perhaps it is an effort to stimulate some artist with a hidden
talent to produce. It is probably more like a welfare program for hungry liberal arts graduates.
I could do better for $900,000. Try me.

[CoolBreeze]

. However, presuming tax money was spent on this commission...

It wasn't. A private donor laid out the cash. By the way, the piece is called "HALLELUJAH".

It could have been called.... "HOLY CRAP!"

[genlock]

If a private donor (likely the Chiltons) put out the gold, that's OK.
Should have been on private property tho.

[CoolBreeze]

The other Paper.... John McGee.

[lastone]

This ranks right up there with "West Virginia Moon".
A real crapper!

Both demented and praised....and junk.

jmo

[Hoosier Daddy]

I like the sculpture, I just don't like spending $900,000 of the taxpayer's money to fund its construction and placement.
Private donors make the whole project OK with me.

[CoolBreeze]

Leftover parts from the New River Gorge Bridge.

[Jet Black]

Agreed. If it was private money, it was just foolish, not wrong.

[Bob Campbell]

I bet you never liked Picasso either.

[jag]

But, should one put a price tag on art? If yes, then how should that price determined?