Towards a Theory of Art

“What is Art?”

The question has and will continue to vex as long as individuals ask it. So, I am not about to offer the ultimate answer. Rather, I intend to put across my suggestions and perhaps a framework in which to ponder the matter.

Firstly, how does one access Art? I suggest there are three ways: using our senses; thinking; and, responding to or with emotion.

[Image description: screen-shot of my tumblr blog, "criquaer: uncensored"]

Senses:

I am reaching nearly twenty-five thousand posts on my tumblr blog. This prompted me to look at the various items I have posted to my scrapbook of images. Straightaway this led me to consider the senses. I almost exclusively post imagery (sight); but many bloggers also post items containing sound (hearing). However, I suggest that other senses can also be involved in or activated by Art (such as taste and touch). This naturally may even involve some synæsthesia whereby Art incites or tricks other senses to become engaged. It is important that all senses are an option for Art, as only then can it be accessed by all, including those of us with any sensory impairment.

Thinking:

Art will most likely make one think: perhaps changing one’s perceptions or opinions; alternatively maybe re-enforcing them. Thinking may not always occur at the time Art is encountered. Art may seep into one’s conscious or unconscious and stir waking thoughts, daydreaming or dreaming whilst asleep. At other times Art may be quite in-one’s-face and agitate for some quick-thinking reaction.

Propaganda is included on my list (below) of potential art-forms as it, like advertising or rhetoric, has the ability to manipulate our thinking as well as our emotions.

Emotions:

Quite naturally, as it is our nature to be emotional, our emotions will be touched by Art. Political Art might stir up feelings of anger and a desire for justice. Erotica can stir sexual impulses. Some artworks create a sense of tranquility and help calm the viewer or listener or toucher.

Comedy, to my mind at least, is a clear example of an art-form that elicits emotional responses, although it often stirs thought also.

The Purpose of Art:

The next issue is to explore what Art is for. I suggest that for Art to be considered such, it ought to contain two or more of the following elements:

* challenge &/or reflect preconceptions of culture & the Zeitgeist;

* æsthetically please &/or prompt an æsthetic response;

* stimulate one or more of the senses;

* aid expression of thought &/or emotion;

* highlight &/or improve our environment.

I posit that Art is effectively a record - either for posterity or ephemerally - of a thought, an emotion or a sense.

Artist v. Art-Work:

Whilst Art may reflect the artist’s intentions, it is the interaction of the individual to the specific piece that is paramount. The art piece is like a child, once raised it has to be let go to make its own way in the world; whilst the hand of the parent will always be upon the individual, for good or ill, it is the child we encounter. It may be interesting to know about the artist and his or her or their intentions, however it is the meeting with the artwork itself that is of primary importance. Of course, I am not denigrating artists; but they are not gods to be worshipped. Most artists consider that it is the Work, their Art, Art that comes first.

As interacters with Art we are living, constantly changing, often contrary beings. However solid we perceive ourselves, we none of us know how we might act until our metal is tested. We never fully know ourselves. When a new employee joins the team, each of the pre-existing members sees different things about the newbie, based on their own judgment, emotions, experience, exigency… In quintessence Art, like the artists who create it, is ever-changing, multi-faceted and impossible to pin down. So what exactly is Art? One cannot exactly say.

An Alphabet of Art-Forms:

I have provided a list of potentially what can be or might be considered art-forms. It is not exhaustive. Inclusion on the list implies no moral judgement whether for good or ill.

Either work through the list or pick a letter at random and ponder whether, within the parameters I have set out, such can be considered in some way a form of Art.

A.

acting

advertisements

animal sanctuaries

animation

architecture

aromatherapy

B.

blogging

body-sculpting

books

C.

calligraphy

cartography

carving

ceramics

charity

cinema

collage

collecting

collections

comedy

comic book 

comic strip

community events

concepts

costumes

counselling

crime

culture

D.

dance

décor

design

documentaries

drawing

dreaming

dyeing

E.

eccentricity

ecology

embroidery

emotion

engineering

erotica

ethics

F.

fabrics

farming

flash-mobs

flower-arranging

fonts

food

friendship

G.

gaming

gardening

geology

glass

graphics

H.

hair-styling

haute couture

haute cuisine

holograms

I.

illustration

infinity

J.

jewellery

jurisprudence

justice

K.

kabuki

kaleidoscopes

kisses

knowledge

L.

landscapes

landscaping

language-learning

lectures

lights

linguistics

living

love

M.

magic

make-up

massage

mathematics

medicine

meditation

metal-working

mime

modelling

model-making

models

musea

music

N.

nature

O.

objets d’art

opera

P.

painting

paper-making

paragons

peace

perfumery

philosophy

photography

playing

poetry

pornography

portraiture

posters

print-making

propaganda

pyrotechnics

Q.

queers

R.

recitation

religion

rhetoric

S.

science

sculpture

sermons

service

sex

sexology

singing

skies

song-writing

sound-design

sound-management

sport

stars

T.

tattooing

taxonomy

teaching

television

theatre

thinking

3-D technologies

time

touching

toys

travel

U.

urban-planning

V.

virtual reality

W.

war

water

weather

web-design

working

writing

X.

xenology

Y.

yoga

Z.

Zeitgeist

zero

Feel free to engage in debate or simply comment below.

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On 1st May this year, for the international Blogging Against Disablism Day 2016 (#BADD2016), if all goes to plan, I shall be hosting a gallery of images pertinent to disabled folk. Additionally, I intend to blog on "Art for All" at the same time. I do hope the reader might care to return at said time.

Tourist Information Cock-Up

A few weeks ago, some readers may recall, I posted about my eternal search for the Benalmadense cultural guide for the first three months of the year, in an article entitled "Where's the Culture in Benalmádena". I did eventually obtain one. Well, despite posting a link to the town hall's website it appears no lessons have been learned.

Today is the tenth day of the three month period which should be covered by the latest guide. But you are not going to believe it: they have not yet even been printed. Nor does anybody know when they will be printed, let alone distributed. The Oficina de la cultura were not exactly helpful: officious and unfriendly. They have one - yes ONE - sheet with this week’s events printed upon it. Yet again, this has not been distributed to the tourist information points. Once again, copies are not available to tourists nor locals. Has no-one heard of photocopiers? It is an absolute shambles and the Consejería de turismo (I could not find an email or web-page specifically relating to the tourism department - if you do, let me know!) should be ashamed of his/her department’s failure to get their act together.

[Image description: close-up exterior shot of the referenced tourist information office, bearing a sign which reads, "PUNTO DE INFORMACION TURISTICA"(sic)]

To make matters worse, the little tourist information office (constructed in the style of the Castillo Bil-Bil, and situated on the eponymous beach), which I frequent, has had its opening-hours cut. In the period running into high season, surely someone needs their bumps feeling! Yes indeed, if I wish to walk a further three kilometres, I can reach another office with longer hours. Well, thank you so much for being unhelpful! Tourists, I am certain, love to wander in a vain search for information!

Benalmádena is my second home, I winter here for my health and I have been visiting for thirteen years. If tourists cannot readily obtain information, they will form a poor impression of a place I have always found to be friendly and helpful. I worry that failures like this can so easily and so quickly irredeemably effect the municipality’s reputation, especially when there are so many other choices available to the modern traveller.

One wonders whether the politico in charge is some kind of fifth columnist determined to undermine the municipio's good name or simply just not up to the job?

[Image description: wide shot of tourist information office]

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¿Quién es quién? - an Illustrated Zoological Study of Gay Culture

[Image description: the original July 2013 edition on the left, the revised one on the right]

Last year I was delighted to review the Beartoncity tomes of the witty comic-artist Daniel Mainé. At the same time I also ordered a copy of another book which Daniel had illustrated, ¿Quién es quién?: Guía Illustrada Del Ambiente Para Gays Desubicados, authored by Enrique P. Sen. Unlike books published in the United Kingdom, Spanish publications do not state the font used. The one used in the book is rather small and, for someone with eyesight problems like myself, very difficult to read.  I could only read in bright daylight and little by little as it hurt to read.

[Image description: sample page showing text]

Thankfully Diabolo Ediciones commissioned a revised edition to take account of the recent changes in not just gay culture, but social mores across the spectrum. The revised edition, published in October 2014 is now hardback rather than softback and a new bolder font has been utilised. 

Such a shame then that twenty-three of my pages are blemished or marked (see the image below for a prime example. That represents some seventeen percent of the pages damaged. With a price-tag of just under eighteen Euros, one really would expect much better.

[Image description: blemished pages, including Daniel's artwork]

So to the contents. Enrique's observations are just so spot on. I was howling with laughter whilst reading the original edition at my favourite café-bar on the beach in Benalmádena. I have no doubt that many folk will recognise individuals they know who so fit the descriptions posited in Enrique's taxonomy.

There was definitely a need to add hipsters to the rogues' gallery. And my favourite of Daniel's illustrations is the 'estrellita', perhaps best translated by the term narcissist. The image of a hirsute bear floating in a plethora of approval and adoration is a marvel to behold - I love it!

Daniel's portraits of each stereotype adds to Enrique's text, more often than not contributing additional humour. Look, for example, for the study for the paranoid gay!

The revised edition is definitely an improvement on the original. With larger pages, the artworks can be seen to their full effect. If your bookshop still has the first edition in stock, unless you are a collector, skip it and insist on the second version.

%D

Where’s the Culture in Benalmádena?

Since finally succeeding in tracking down a guide to cultural events for the first three months of 2015 in Benalmádena, I had been looking forward to Bach’s Goldberg Variations being interpreted on piano via José Luis de Miguel Ubago.

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One would have thought that Benalmádena being a tourist town that the tourist information office would be the place to go to obtain the aforesaid brochure. In previous years this had been my source of such information. But you would be very wrong. The second week I was here - in January, recall - I paid a visit only to be informed that there would be no more information guides until April and those - rather obviously - for the following quarter. Not to be stymied, I thought I would try the Castillo Bil-Bil, the venue for many recitals and gallery showings. There was one on the attendant’s desk; but it being their last one I did not wish to take it.  Next I visited the Casa de la Cultura (“House of Culture”) in the centre of Arroyo de la Miel (which co-incidentally perhaps, also contains the chambers of the town’s mayor). Piles of the brochures were liberally placed on the table set aside for information on tourist attractions.

[Image description: poster displaying the council's coat of arms]

I approached the desk and asked to purchase a ticket for the piano concert. I was informed that I would have to return the Monday prior to the concert, i.e. 16th February. Naturally I did so, this time to be apprised that entrances could be purchased solely two hours before the performance. Apparently the event had nothing to do with the town hall, who had merely rented out the castillo to the event’s organisers. In that case I have to ask why the event appeared in the official brochure of cultural events and why the programme and posters are emblazoned with “Ayuntamiento [Town Hall] de Benalmádena: Delegación de Cultura”. Seemingly someone at the town hall wanted the credit for the event, but none of the responsibility.

In the week after obtaining my hen’s-tooth guide, I revisited the tourist information office to let them know that there were plenty of brochures available in the commercial town centre. The officer was somewhat irked for, as she pointed out, in the space set aside for cultural events, there was not even a poster, a flier, nor a list.

Given that tourism is a very major part of the economy of Benalmádena, it is incomprehensible to me to understand the lackadaisical attitude towards apprising tourists of actually what is going on in the municipality and making it as simple and as easy as possible to attend events. This latter situation had been my experience in previous years: so why the deterioration?

Goodness knows what impression any tourists may have taken back to their respective countries and what messages they may disseminate.

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José Luis de Miguel Ubago has won many prizes and studied with many fine pianists. He is now a professor of piano in Granada. I was expecting great music. I was to be sorely disappointed. I suspect the pianist misinterpreted the Goldberg Variations as the Cold Berg or Iceberg Variations. Music played competently enough, but with no passion; hardly a flicker of emotion expressed itself in the mien of José Luis. Occasionally the tiniest crack of a smile (assuming it was not wind); but for the most part the player looked as if he were sucking a giant gobstopper. He thrashed at the keyboard, apparently having no lightness of touch - and yes, I could see his playing reflected in the lid of the piano. At one point I stood up to see whether he was actually using the pedals - and he was! Perhaps the instrument itself was a tad out of tune, for the music emitted was harsh on the ears - some of the sharps far so; some of the flats likewise!

[Image description: the phlegmatic pianist]

After thirty minutes of intense patience the audience spontaneously broke out into mass fidgeting. By this time, on the row in front of me: one man had dropped off to sleep; an unconnected lady played with her smartphone; and another woman at the far end of the row decided that the contents of her handbag were far more entertaining. After fifty minutes two folk left and another two five minutes later. When José Luis decided to do one of the variations as his encore, I myself made a dash for the exit. What was so surprising were the folk who stood to applaud the chap: they really must be desperate for any culture to put up with and appreciate such perfunctory offerings. Interestingly only one person uttered “Bravo” and sotto voce it should be noted. There was no heart-felt cheering.

If the concert had been a compact-disc, I should not have purchased it.

[Image description: the piano in situ]

"UNI.Formed": Fran Quesada Art Exhibition

[Image description: a detail of one of © Fran Quesada's images]

On 15th January my plus-one and I arrived half-an-hour later than the due time of eight o'clock at Kipfer & Lover at Calle San Juan de Letran, 21, just across from Málaga's main theatre, Teatro Cervantes.

[Image description: Kipfer & Lover logo, courtesy & © the aforesaid]

I was there for the launch of Fran Quesada's latest exhibition which is entitled:

Exposición Tematica "UNI.Formed" homoerotismo y Uniformidad

Roughly translated that is, "UNI.Formed": an Exhibition on a Theme of Homoeroticism & Uniformity.

[Image description: the poster for the event; courtesy Kipfer&Lover]

The fetishising of uniforms has been a constant of queer artists and communities for more than a century (at least): from the off-duty soldiers roaming London pubs and bars, who could be picked up and paid a sixpence for a quickie up some dark alleyway in the nineteenth century; the Nazis who originally contained many gay members till the infamous purge of 1934, and glorified in works such as those by Tom of Finland; to the police-officers who hunted and persecuted us in the fifties to the beginning of the more open nineties; and so on.

There is a love-hate relationship with all those in uniformed power. There is, or perhaps was, a taboo to developing affinities with those who bullied and maltreated us. And this perhaps added a frisson to sexual encounters with those in powerful positions.

Nowadays, of course, at least in the UK, all three of the armed forces are filled with non-heterosexual service personnel and even made the list of the past year's one hundred most gay-friendly employers. Additionally, many police services throughout England, Wales and Scotland have their own LGBTI associations. There is even a website, uniformdating.com just to find dates with uniformed folk, whatever their sexuality.

Across the spectrum, folk themselves and/or their sexual partners enjoy dressing up in uniforms. It is seen as slightly kinky, but not especially perverted; rather simply some fun and games for the bedroom.

All of Fran's models are muscled, Caucasian (I include Arab North-Africans), chaps; a heterogeneous selection of homosexual fantasy. They are æsthetically good-looking, openly sexual and apparently available and/or narcissistic. The very uniformity of these men in uniform challenges the viewers' perception of mainstream queer culture. There was no handicapped soldier revealing suppurating wounds. There was no policeman bearing the scars of attacks from criminals. There was no black man, no Asian man, no man of any obvious ethnicity other than the hegemonic Caucasian West. Every man looked picture perfect. A fantasy in which to cocoon oneself and shelter from the vicissitudes of homophobia and gay-bashing and hiding in the closet.

I love the fact that I am challenged to see the narrowness and totalitarian nature of contemporary queer culture. The conformity to uniformity must be challenged. And Fran has done so in the most direct manner possible, by highlighting the homogeneity of what can be an asphyxiating ideal; forcing the vast majority of us to at least occasionally question our own looks, ignoring how very much more important character and personality are to a rewarding amour-propre.

So impressed with Fran's œuvre, I immediately snapped up one of his original pieces. Supporting artists to seek out new work and to make us question our world is a must for any who can afford to do so. Attending exhibitions a must for those who wish to grow and experience fresh perspectives on life. So, naturally, I heartily recommend Fran Quesada's exhibition, UNI.Formed. Go and see! %D

[Image description: group photo; from l. to r., the writer, my companion, the artist himself, the couturier Jesús Segado, Luis Segovia Toro & a friend]

Beauty: Voluntary Servitude?

Video by Swiss organisation Pro Infirmis.

Wow: even without following the subtitles nor listening to the spoken German, I was dumb-struck after watching this profoundly moving and inspiring video.

It questions our notions of æsthetics and the morality of the constrictions and strictures main-stream culture places on we citizens. So much so, that even individuals considered conventionally attractive worry obsessively about their looks. We have allowed ourselves to be dictated to by the media and have willingly become enslaved to the fashion, beauty, fitness and cosmetic-surgery industries. We indoctrinate future generations through children's books and films into believing that beautiful/young = good and ugly/old = bad. Our perverted sense of beauty is a completely vacuous and unattainable ideal: perfect for industries to permanently prey on our fears; not so good for folk who suffer from illnesses related to this fetishistic perniciousness. So amour-propre is damaged in us all, and we all suffer permanent low self-esteem.

None of us need to nor ought to be so down on ourselves over our appearance. As the tag-line states, "Because who is perfect?".

Costa del Sol: a Cultural Destination?

My twelfth consecutive year of visiting the Costa del Sol. Slowly, and I do mean at a glacial pace, things are changing; and I should say for the better on the whole. Despite the complete lack of a tradition of cultural participation in the artistic scenes, the Arts are now alive here, if not truly flourishing. Younger generations and tourists seem to maintain this still nascent change; older folk seem to eye their taxes being spent on such fripperies as begrudgingly necessary to hold on to tourists and their Euros, the staple of the modern Spanish economy since the collapse of the construction industry.

In Benalmádena, my resort of choice due to its affable inhabitants, they now produce a guide to their cultural events. For several years the local council has organised a weekly event at the Castillo Bil-Bil. I have been witness to some wonderful classical music performances by young musicians unafraid of playing in front of we plebeians and thrilled by their receptive welcome. It should however be noted that musical events have also included inter alia flamenco, pop and rock. This very evening I am off to a jazz concert. If one can cope with the Spanish language, whether understood or simply to listen to it, one can attend poetry and literary readings or even theatrical shows. From my personal perspective I am excited to come each year and discover what the current profferings are. Benalmádena seems not to try to repeat itself but root out new and fresh offerings. I am advised that a previous gay mayor is very much responsible for the cultural stimulus. I do not know whether this is true: whatever the facts, the move was and has proven to be inspirational. Long may it continue!

[Image description: front aspect of Castillo Bil-Bil lit up at night]

Torremolinos, the next town along the coast from Benalmádena, heading to Málaga the capital of the Málagueño region, has long put on events to lure in the tourists. Nearly a decade ago, I recall attending a concert at their cultural centre Pablo Ruiz Picasso. The emcée made the introductions in English, French, German and Finnish, but not rather notably in Spanish: there simply was not a single Spaniard in the audience.

Last week I was again in Torremolinos for a modern interpretation of The Nutcracker, El Cascanueces. This time, apart from the foreign tourists, the auditorium was packed with Spanish. The performances included bangra, hip-hop, belly-dancing, flamenco, Bollywood-style, street-funky, contemporary dance as well as traditional classical ballet. Given all the dancers were amateurs, some of the pieces were more professionally executed than dance I have paid large sums of money to attend - I think especially of some dire performances by Ballet Rambert and Royal Northern Ballet. To be sure, I left the Torremolinesian venue with my spirits totally uplifted. My Spanish companion thoroughly enjoyed herself also, to her great surprise.

[Image description: the adertisement for El Cascanueces in Spanish]

Even as I type I am horripilating at the thought of so much talent here on the Costas; how much more is yet to be discovered?

Without the investment of local councils here in Spain in classes, supporting and investing in current and future talent, this new-found cultural growth would wilt and die. Culture has to be one of the avenues exploited here in Andalusia in a multi-pronged approach to hanging on to and expanding tourist numbers. And the penny-pinching local authorities back in the UK could learn a thing or two about investing to reap future rewards. This is definitely one aspect that Spain does better! %)