greedy aestheticists in tiny tents

schjeldahl_p Originally uploaded by dressform.

thats what all us art folks/snob/participants are according to mr. schjeldahl pictured above (photo from: black bird archive )

it is enthusing to be in the presence of someone who speaks his mind so poetically (and yes he was a former poet). for better or for worse the likes of Schjeldahl (maybe if i type it enough i will spell it properly with ease) and Hickey et. al propse an interesting way to look at and think about this diabolical mess that is the art world and art making. part of it is taking art and making it a "Regular" thing but still managing to talk about it with $10 words and concepts. it's demystifying and respectful all at the same time. the democratic portion of me likes this very much.

ultimately he is also a good story teller. he spoke of two Rembrandts and how he viewed them in this very loving and inspired way. down to the gesture.... and then in the next breath irony appears, arm in arm with humor to blow the whole thing out of the stuffy and murky water. i think this is how my mind works often actually, although i doubt i could put it all so eloquently. i look for those epiphanies (and what the hell are those anyways? dictionary definitions don't do justice to the curling of the toes and little time warps and leaps of heart beats that happen in those ultimate states of understanding and confusion) and then immediately look to debase them. to make them into something funny - or not so big - it's almost like stashing them away in my own little squirrel hole - by disarming them i can actually keep them for a bit longer and go back to them for fading returns. where as if i allow the grandness all the space it deserves it fades faster.... and becomes less personal. perhaps the critics and philosophers are the ones that get more bang for their buck when they put it all out there - share it to be devoured, chewed up, altered and spit back out in cycle after cycle.

the highlights from tonight (and i think the list format is appropo):
- the gates in snow have a series of yellow dog action paintings surrounding them
- things have snob appeal
- you learn things faster publically because they become etched in humility
- art is escapism
- art should make the world safer for poetic intoxication
- art is nothing but problems
- there is an applicable analogy between Kegan's notion of true war vs. real war and true art vs. real art
- artists are unhappy
- artists are courageous (or crazy) because they can look at the state of the world and decide that there really still needs to be ONE MORE OBJECT
- artists shouldn't really have to think about the state of making art. they should just be given contracts or jobs to produce things (after all how did all those cathedrals in Europe get painted?)
- painting is like jazz (not in a music sense - in the way it partcipates in the culture)
- freeze dried narrative
- innovation is overrated
- art is the technoligy of making beauty
- and the title of this blog.... which basically was presented by explaining that those of us in the room were self-chosen elite (and in a democracy ANYONE gets to be an elitist) - where most of america is in a big tent that watches TV we are greedy aesthetcists in a much smaller tent (you can be in more than one tent!) looking for that next life changing experience with an art object.

ahh the purr of a stimulated brain. tis nice on occasion..... plus now the lovely miss m and i have a collaborative project to start! tee hee!