On 11/2/2012 6:04 PM, Tina Manley wrote:
> PESO:
>
> I thought this was interesing:
>
> http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/11/02/landscape-photographer-of-the-year-2012-winner-disqualified/
>
> What do you think?
I think our culture is poisoned with competition. There have to be winners and
losers, blue ribbons. That works with
footraces, javelin throwing and all that ilk of competitions. It becomes less
meaningful in judged sports like diving,
ice skating, etc.
In the arts, it's just meaningless I like book A better than book B, and no one
else's opinion can change that, unless I
fool myself, and suppress my own, inner self in favor of external standards.*
Everybody 'important' who saw it thought Van Gogh's art was crap. Maybe it was.
Things change. Who can actually know?
Juried art competitions are a pox on our culture. They belie the truths about
the nature of art, encourage the pompous
and self-aggrandizing in condescending to the more ordinary, healthy
personalities and distort the natural creativity in
artists who try to tune their work for prizes. **
I have no argument, by the way, with reviews, top ten lists, etc. Unlike single
prizes, they offer a range of differing
opinions and can inform the potential consumer of art. If I know from
experience that someone, professional reviewer or
acquaintance, has taste often similar to mine, or wildly different, their
opinions can be of value to me.
I also understand that artists often distort their inner taste to the demands
of the market. I don't have an opinion
that that is good or bad, but it's a far different thing.
We all like to have our artistic efforts appreciated. Meaningless competitions
provide that for the very few at the
expense of the very many, based on no valid criteria.
Moose D'Opinion
* I'm speaking short term here. Contrary to some opinion, we can, and most of
us do, grow and change. I may years later
prefer book B to book A.
** Sorry, Bill, that's the way I see it.
>
> TIna
>
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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