Written In Sand
images from JP Wells State Park, Upper Peninsula, MI, August 2009
chance arrangement of stones:
drop a frame in the sand, call everything inside the frame "art"—
is is still a chance arrangement,
or has it become intentional?
chance arrangement of stones:
drop a frame in the sand, call everything inside the frame "art"—
is is still a chance arrangement,
or has it become intentional?
Labels: haiku, photography
posted by Art Durkee at 10:15 PM
2 Comments:
I don't know if you've read Dave King's latest post but this feels like it's adding your tuppenceworth to the argument, What is art? I suggested context. Dave wasn't entirely convinced but I feel your argument about the frame around the sand is saying much the same thing. I talked about how I arranged some items I found in the street, junk really, one some small shelves in front of my cassette tape collection and how, for the time the items were, there they became art but now I've taken them down and tossed them in an old shoebox they no longer art. There are some land artists who do exactly that, they're a family of artists and what they do is pick a point on the map from pretty much anywhere in the world, go there, drop a frame on the floor and then, and in meticulous detail, reproduce that section on the ground turning it into art forever.
I've run across the whole "art is what inside's the frame" idea several times; I think the first time I saw it was about twelve years ago. It's a concept that works although of course it could be abused, and has been, by some conceptual artists. "It's a poem because I SAY it's a poem." We both know that has both good things and bad things to it.
I went over and read Dave's latest post on this, and your comments. Your collection of junk became art because you arranged it: which means that art has to include intention (the frame), as well as intuition and aesthetic choices.
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