Posted: Apr 23, 2011 10:34 am
def wrote:AndreD wrote:
It's just my subjective opinion of the thing. As I mentioned in my reply to Def, I like art (I really should limit it to photography, paintings and sculpture, as that is what I mean by 'art' in this context) which provides a visceral experience without the need to layer additional external, third party meaning over the top. Likewise, my reply to Def about where I think intellectual analysis of art is appropriate applies here too.
The thing is, when you know Duchamp, the reaction to the urinal is visceral! The knowledge about it changes its effect. The concept is an aspect of art.
I don't think it should be. Taking your example of film you used in reply to Tyrannical, it's not like watching one scene, instead what you're demanding is that one should watch all of Kurosawa's films in order to understand the "true meaning" of Seven Samurai. I think each work should stand on its own merits, unless it's part of a designed series of works meant to be viewed together.
Compare something like Duchamp's urinal to Turner's The Fighting Temeraire or The Slave Ship. The emotionally evocative and stirring nature of the Turners, and his technical ability to transmit such aesthetics through paint is enough in and of itself. It doesn't need meaning behind it or postmodern analysis for it to be great - it just is great. The same cannot be said of the urinal.