Diana Muller The following is from Diana's blog which can be accessed from her website: Diana's online store for posters, buttons,mugs,cards,magnets,etc FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008 See you all in Art Hell
Can an artwork have integrity if the artist has none?' This was one of many, many posts on the arts forum I was browsing that included the word 'integrity'. ‘Integrity and art.’ ‘Can you sell your art and still have integrity?’ ‘How much integrity do you have? take out quiz and find out.’ Integrity is important to artists and, perhaps even more important to art critics. One might even argue that integrity is THE most important factor in what makes for 'Good ' art. The winner of last years 'Big Modern Art Prize for Arty Friends of the Art Museum' might be a cow's head on a spike with snooker balls for eyes but, you know what? The artist really meant it. There is another aspect to this. Apparently artists who, you know... Make a living selling their work, are a bunch of filthy 'sell-outs' who are prostituting their souls... Interesting no? So I looked it up in the dictionary and discovered something else rather interesting. The word integrity means the exact same thing as the word 'Honesty' and I prefer the word 'Honesty' because it sounds like a common sense, salt of the earth homely, honest word. Whereas 'Integrity’ sounds sharp and bitchy, a bit like Tracy Emin. First, in my opinion, regarding the first question, an artwork can't be honest because it's an artwork and has no self awareness. Ask the next cow head with snooker ball eyes you see if it has integrity and see what it says.
So why is it important for artists to be honest? Is it not a bit more important for say, accountants to be honest? Lawyers? Politicans? And why, for some reason does actually selling your work make you, in the eyes of some, somehow lacking in Honesty? When a carpenter sells a shelving unit is he 'selling-out' or 'making a living'? Well it's very simple. Its really bloody hard to make a living as an artist, so when someone actually manages to sell something it sends other artists and wannabe artists (read critics) mad with envy... Especially if it's something the other artists consider ugly or, even worse, better than their own art. Now I'm not saying that the theoretical cow's head snooker ball piece is bad art... Well, I am saying that, but lets pretend that top critics love the piece for its copious, gushing, dripping integrity, and it's bought by some moron with more money than taste for a hundred grand. Would Cow's head artists be a sell-out? Yes... Unless...They're making an artistic statement about selling-out, then it would be ok. The best part is that all you have to do to make an artistic statement about selling-out is to say, 'I'm making an artistic statement about selling-out.' Preferably without smiling... Well, maybe a knowing smirk. Would I, with my meagre living, be really, really jealous of cow head artist? Yeah I would. See how it works? Lets forget for a moment the fact that all art from cave painting to cow heads is conceptual, since, it does all start with an idea (ie: ' I think I'll draw a bison today.') and pretend that the world of 'Conceptual Art' is something other than the drug fuelled, pretentious bullshitting of some self righteous 30 year old teenagers. Conceptual artists can't sell-out. If you create 'conceptual' art it's nearly impossible to sell-out, because 'conceptual' art is based on a concept or 'idea' and 'you can't own thoughts maaan!' (At least I imagine that's the kind of crap going through the head of a conceptual artist, I don’t know I’m not a crystal meth addict). So yeah they have 'immunity' to loss of integrity, a bit like immunity on survivor except the loser doesn't get kicked off a tv show, they go to 'art hell'... where the sell-outs live in comfortable, suburban houses and paint flowers and such. But God help you if you actually want to paint flowers and sell one for a couple of hundred quid. That is, unless the flowers in question are a reflection of the darkest and most twisted recesses of you soul. In which case just say so and it's ok. Another way to get 'Integrimunity' is to be an alcoholic, or drug addict, or a mentally ill person, preferably all three. This will ensure that, despite the fact that you sell your work, you are miserable enough to allow other artists and critics to feel superior to you. Even if your art isn't ugly enough to make a sewer worker puke. After all if Vincent van Gough had been a happy, well balanced man, who created a popular print of 'sunflowers' and sold a million copies of it, his paintings wouldn't have been nearly as good, would they? Here's an idea for those in search of integrity. Next time you see an art work you do or don't like... be honest, and say so.
LABELS: ART, CONCEPTUAL ART, INTEGRITY Read in Diana's blog about: Salvador Dali - A Man Posessed - Diana's top 5 weirdest artists -No.4 Hieronymus Bosch - No. 5 : Vincent van Goug. - Letter from America Diana's online store for posters, buttons,mugs,cards,magnets,etc |
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