I would never pretend to be an expert on art. I understand and appreciate that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. I will say that I have been exposed to art all my life, with a professional artist grandfather, mother and first husband. My daughter owns an art gallery. I can enjoy any art that speaks to me in some form or fashion, or is spectacular through intricate precision, skill, form or color. That said, I just don't get some contemporary art.
Arts Alive was Friday night, a twice-yearly street festival in downtown Mobile showcasing art in every form. The weather was beautiful, the musicians, poets, dance troupes and artists entertaining. And then we decided to check out the semi-new gallery of contemporary art - Space 301.
Now, inside was a vast array of different mediums and lots of it was great. But within the impressive were a number of displays that, I'm sorry, simply do not represent art to me. A few of my least-favorite:
An old mattress that looked like it had been dumped in an alley two years prior, lying on the floor belly-up with its springs exposed. And nestled within each spring spiral was a light bulb, each strung together with a standard brown cord, laying forlornly in the dirty mattress. They weren't even colored, artistic bulbs...they were like forty-watt G.E.'s.
Mushroom stains on rice paper. Different-sized sheets of paper, some torn, with brown goo on it that looked like vomit.
Wooden pencils and fish lying on the floor in a random pattern with broken mirrors.
And quite possibly the most disturbing: a metal coat rack with dozens of I.V. bags suspended by fishing hooks and plastic wire. Inside each I.V. bag was a yellow-colored gelatin with various found objects floating in it (a paperclip, part of a candy-wrapper...some other things that I couldn't even look at closely enough to tell what they were).
Maybe it's because I'm not from a "big city". Maybe it's because I haven't traveled that much to be exposed to the greater art-world. Maybe I'm too shallow to understand what the artist is attempting to convey. But all I could think when I was looking at these things was "I'll bet the artist is pulling our leg. I'll bet there's really no rhyme or reason or thought behind any of this. It's just a joke to see how stupid we really are."
What do y'all think?
-frolix