Open Thread Wednesday

Whenever any entrenched, not to mention corrupt establishment wants to dispose of even the most reasonable observations they now label it a “conspiracy theory”. the term was actually invented by the
Students for a Democratic Society brats in the late 1960’s. They and other ” new left” elements also started the PC idea.

Now, as a group, the new BHA board has floated the idea that to have an independent opinion of their actions you need to be a member or
a contributor. Really? So to be a valid observer of LBJ during the Viet Nam era you had to be a member of the democratic party.

Like what? Fewr hall moitors here? Jussayin.

Best eggplant parm ever served.

Yes its true that communications is my field and to be honest I always a little afraid of guns. But that doesn’t blind me to the fact that the way Glock captured the market was strong hard marketing and very competitive prices.Government agencies almost NEVER adopt the best design. That’s exactly why we lost so MANY of our brave Americans in Viet Nam to simple jams with the 16. MANY top engineers INCLUDING Eugene Stoner strongly warned of the BIG flaws in the 16 But key congressmen were from Connecticut.. so.
Only the most mindless believe that large institutions choose what’s
best..or even barely safe..

If you told anyone in say 62 back that police or anyone entering a criminal atmosphere should not be as ready to protect their and innocent citizen’s lives as possible, you’d be promptly placed in some rubber room. But in the new PC America…we prosecute some cops and demoralize far greater numbers with the adoption of wrong technology and then demand a body of patrol guidelines from hell.

Before we go on, won’t everybody reading this simply google ”S&W
Governor” at at least look at this far safer technology which should be made available to everyone in the NYPD…..

There’s new public art coming to Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, apparently: http://observer.com/2016/02/british-art-star-martin-creed-to-light-up-brooklyn-waterfront-with-giant-neon-sign/

I wish there was a more succinct way to explain how the course taken by the history of art led to what you’re reacting to…

The shortest explanation I can come up with offhand is that at the beginning of the 20th century an artist named Marcel Duchamp popularized the notion that art, as a visual interpretation of an idea, doesn’t have to be an attempt at representing that idea verbatim (i.e., an artist has something to say about death, so s/he paints a picture of someone dying). A chess master in his own right, Duchamp seems to have discovered an irrefutable argument (i.e. “why can’t the idea of death be better represented by a platter of cold cuts?”), and in no time resistance was trampled by artists looking for new ways to express ideas, critics at a loss for how to withstand them, and a public that was increasingly receptive with the advance of modern industrialization, consumerism, and buffeting from two World Wars (plus a bunch of other stuff).

Since then, visual art has been exposed to fewer and fewer limitations in terms of subject matter and treatment, and the inevitable result is its “crossing over” into other disciplines (in the case of the sculpture in question, as well as the “YO” sculpture to the north, industrial signage). This, to say nothing of the fact that the fine art industry is the world’s (and history’s) most expensive and unregulated luxury goods market.

For reasons that become abundantly clear if that word “unregulated” popped out at you, matters of taste and sophistication have very little to do with whether artwork gets made, sold, or commissioned these days. If this is something you believe you’re in a position to do something about, or if it’s something you want to do something about, I would encourage you to do some research to try to get a wider scope of “what’s out there” in the art world, figure out what kind of art speaks to you and why, invest in that kind of artwork, and encourage others to do the same.

Where are Alyssa and Joe? This thread cries for you.

“Thought and the exercise of balanced judgment”
Big words coming from a bigot.

Thanks. To perhaps put it another way then, (1) yes there are (grown intelligent people who regard that as art), (2) I’m not necessarily an idiot for having a contrary view but (3) ultimately, art is whatever sells, or whatever appeals to those in a position to buy it.

Your response was very helpful, thank you. And I do quite like 20th century art, or some of it (which isn’t to say I often “get it”, only that I like the way it looks). I just thought that this particular piece was shallow and sophomoric. If it were music or literature (two art forms I’m a little more conversant with), I would liken it, respectively, to the jingle that accompanies one of those “The More You Know” public service messages or a pamphlet entitled “So, You Have Syphilis”, that you might find in a display case at a college health center.