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roachboy · 01-24-2006, 09:29 AM

i dont see why folk want to link art to emotion exclusively...it seems to trivialize the undertaking (making stuff or "art") by limiting any possibility of other motives.
nor do i see how this kind of equation (art-space for the expression of emotion) functions as a definition.
it seems like an attribute of subjective relations to objects that are designated "art"...in other words, emotion is something individuals associate with "art"....

say one were to take this definition seriously, however: not all work that traffics in emotion gets designated as "art", yes?
and there is no essence to a work that is called art that makes it inevitable that it be understood as such, yes? lots of stuff that traffics in emotion--hallmark cards, posters carried by operation rescue types, political graphics, etc.--are not often understood as art, and when they are, you usually find the choice accompanied by large rationales for it, most of which are historical in nature (x becomes an exemplary graphic for particular types of political action at a particular time, for example)...

art is what the holders of cultural power say it is.
it is what you encounter in spaces that are designated as containers for this type of object.

side note: i do alot of piano music--it is understood by most of my comrades as being difficult--but when things are working, the music is also kind of mind-altering (so ia m told at least--i cant really judge this kind of thing--my reactions are my reactions and are conditioned by being in on making the stuff but not really rememebring much about the performance)...if at some point, my music were to get designated art, i would find the evaluation arbitrary--it would say nothing about the processes involved, nothing about my relation to them, nothing about performance, nothing about anything, really.
it would shift people's relation to it, and to me, but i am not at all convinced that these sifts would be good.
on the other hand, i would be pleased, in all probability, because it would become easier to get money to continue.
and that is about all there is in it.

one of my favorite quotes: poetics is to poetry as ornithology is to birds.
poetics here stands in for systems of classification of works.

01-24-2006, 09:29 AM	#35 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	i dont see why folk want to link art to emotion exclusively...it seems to trivialize the undertaking (making stuff or "art") by limiting any possibility of other motives. nor do i see how this kind of equation (art-space for the expression of emotion) functions as a definition. it seems like an attribute of subjective relations to objects that are designated "art"...in other words, emotion is something individuals associate with "art".... say one were to take this definition seriously, however: not all work that traffics in emotion gets designated as "art", yes? and there is no essence to a work that is called art that makes it inevitable that it be understood as such, yes? lots of stuff that traffics in emotion--hallmark cards, posters carried by operation rescue types, political graphics, etc.--are not often understood as art, and when they are, you usually find the choice accompanied by large rationales for it, most of which are historical in nature (x becomes an exemplary graphic for particular types of political action at a particular time, for example)... art is what the holders of cultural power say it is. it is what you encounter in spaces that are designated as containers for this type of object. side note: i do alot of piano music--it is understood by most of my comrades as being difficult--but when things are working, the music is also kind of mind-altering (so ia m told at least--i cant really judge this kind of thing--my reactions are my reactions and are conditioned by being in on making the stuff but not really rememebring much about the performance)...if at some point, my music were to get designated art, i would find the evaluation arbitrary--it would say nothing about the processes involved, nothing about my relation to them, nothing about performance, nothing about anything, really. it would shift people's relation to it, and to me, but i am not at all convinced that these sifts would be good. on the other hand, i would be pleased, in all probability, because it would become easier to get money to continue. and that is about all there is in it. one of my favorite quotes: poetics is to poetry as ornithology is to birds. poetics here stands in for systems of classification of works. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 01-24-2006 at 09:32 AM..