funny, I thought that an intelligent discussion, held by intelligent people, was a chance to learn - A well thought out and well expressed response contributing to someone else's learning experience as they contribute to yours. The only people in this thread that I think have sounded like wankers (apart from possibly myself) are those that insist on applying the term to others.
Or at least that's what i am hoping for when I take part in a conversation such as this. Apparently I've been doing it all wrong... now I vaguely suspect that I am supposed to get my tits out - and I gotta tell you, if I take my shirt off; the guys who I work with are
not going to be happy about it.
Back to the art/not art thing..... I think that I almost entirely agree with po-mo. I just differ in the degree. I think that art must be for arts sake alone.. practical things cannot be art. BUT.. I think that there are degrees of art in anything that is not entirely utilitarian. the chair example keeps coming up so I'll use it.
A three legged stool fulfills all the practical functions of a chair, it keeps your bum off the ground and its relatively comfortable. It may or may not be in and of itself, aesthetically pleasing - but that aesthetic is a byproduct of the functionality. That is craft. A well
crafted chair/stool/whatever is defined as such because it performs its function well --- Now take a beautiful designer chair - the bits of that that keep your bum off the floor, not art - but the bits that make people go "wow, that chair looks great" or that appeal to the eye or to the touch and are there
solely for that purpose -- those bits are art.
Beers purpose is to slake your thirst and get you drunk. The popularity of not particularly nice beer, would seem to indicate that tasting good... isn't actually one of beers core functions. So talented craftsmen in breweries across the land churn out beer that provides refreshment and drunkeness and does it without fault - and a few passionate and creative brewers about the place, try to add more... for no reason other than aesthetics. Those brewers who design, create, and inject their passion (ewww) into a beer for no reason other than to provide an ephemeral moment of pleasure for a distant audience... to me that's art.
I have on a couple of occasions seen upmarket wine shops that referred to themselves as "Wine Galleries" - I usd to think of them as pretentious wankers.... now I think that much less than I did before I started reading this thread. Oh they are still wankers for actually calling it a gallery; but the concept of a place to buy and enjoy a consumptive sensory experience , being thought of as a gallery. Not entirely unwarranted.
Hell, I think I learned something, even if only about myself. (and no, its not that I am a wanker.... i already knew that) And no one had to get their tits out at all
