We’re loading this week’s show (all about art) a little early. The episode begins by asking the question: what is art? Is writing, photography, film, and dance art? What about video games? (Okay, so those specifics come a little later in the episode.) After establishing what art is, we discuss our earliest memories of art, including the first great works of art we ever saw.
After that, we get into actually creating art. Does one have to be creative in order to make art? Can art be taught? What’s more important: creativity or ability? Then it’s back to specifics: who are some of our favorite artists? What are our favorite works of art? What’s the strangest art we’ve ever seen?
Then we stroll through the modern art gallery of the mind, asking if modern art deserves the reputation it gets from some people — and we ask if art critics are good or bad for art? We wrap it up chatting about what we think art will be like in 100 years.
We’d love to hear who some of your favorite artists and works of art are in the comments!
Links to some of the artists and works of art mentioned in this episode:
- George Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
- Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day
- Andy Warhol’s Mao
- David Lynch’s Lost Highway (Trailer)
- Mark Tansey’s The Innocent Eye Test
- John Picacio’s El Pescado
- Nate Frizzell’s To See Her As You’d See a Star
- Shaun Tan’s The Arrival
- David Weisner’s Tuesday
- Douglas Coupland’s Hockey Night in Canada (Furniture)
- Kent Williams
- George Pratt
- Chris Van Allsburg
- Andy Denzler
- Caravaggio
- Jackson Pollack
- Salvador Dali
- Pablo Picasso
- HR Giger
- Keith Haring
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Bob Ross
- William Alexander
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The deliberate manipulation of at least one medium for the sake of aesthetic contemplation. That is my (admittedly very liberal and slightly circular) definition.
May I respectfully submit a supplemental list of notable artists? 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_artists
I find Marina Abramović’s art particularly fascinating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramovi%C4%87
Here is a video of a segment of a particularly moving piece, she didn’t expect her former life partner to show up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0Tg0IjCp4
Yeah, our list is pretty testicle-centric, eh? 😉
I’ve seen the Marina Abromovic video — it’s some really moving stuff right there. Generally, performance art is hit and miss with me. It’s not that I dislike it, because there have been performance art I’ve really liked, but generally — it’s not something I gravitate toward.
Most of the female artists I like tend to work in comics. Since I didn’t list all the comic book artists, people like Jill Thompson and others I like. (A neat Jill Thompson video for a Kickstarter she recently did http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1327932176/the-scary-godmother-doll)
Also, I’m quite fond of my wife’s art 🙂 http://cfgriffith.deviantart.com/art/Thorin-Oakenshield-Weight-of-the-World-388479263
F-111 (which I’m shocked I forgot to mention — one of my all-time favorite paintings — is at North Park RIGHT NOW.
Hmm, that one plays just outside the edge of my understanding. Slightly disturbing. The spaghetti intrigues me.