From the International Herald Tribune, an article titled Dwindling art supplies generate blindness - and erratic prices. This interesting, if unfathomable, piece ends with this paragraph:
Art lovers with millions to spare, do not despair in these lean times. Even when there is not much left to sift through, great works of art can still be found, if only because so few buyers have the eye needed to recognize them.
The article basically laments how wealthy collectors bid up mediocre works by popular artists while overlooking better paintings by lesser known craftsmen. Regardless, the numbers being thrown around are the kinds of money I think of retiring on — after giving most of it away.
But I’m not writing this post in response to the numbers or to desperate connoisseurs shelling out boatloads of clams just so they can say they own a Monet. I’m writing this to ask whether or not we can we create more of a sense of balance in the art world, with more reasonable prices ...
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The danger of the title “Consumer”Source:
http://theaestheticelevator.com/2008/03/04/the-dan...Post Date: 2008-03-04 18:00:54
James Kunslter, author and critic of suburbia and proponent of New Urbanism, said something very interesting and important in a podcast referred to me by a friend:
“Please, please stop referring to yourselves as consumers, OK. Consumers are different than citizens. Consumers do not have obligations, responsibilities and duties to their fellow human beings.”
He goes on to suggest that by referring to ourselves — I might add that even by subconsciously thinking of ourselves — as ...
The problem with ecoterrorismSource:
http://theaestheticelevator.com/2008/03/04/the-pro...Post Date: 2008-03-04 09:13:27
It’s completely beyond me as to how people think acts of violence such as this will actually change the way the victims think and act.
Note the specific order in the sentence above: “Think” and then “act.” People’s actions, in this case building very large, energy hoarding houses, aren’t likely to change until their worldview or personal values change. It seems to me that all such ecoterrorism will only serve to anger people; I really don’t see ho...
Ignoble influenceSource:
http://theaestheticelevator.com/2008/03/07/ignoble...Post Date: 2008-03-07 09:18:05
Makoto Fujimura posted this week from a speech he gave. The post included a story about a Fred Danback, who sacrificed his seniority at his factory job after constantly bringing up how the plant was destroying the livelihood of local fisherman. He was demoted to janitor, which gained him significant access to all parts of the manufacturing facility. The notes and maps he made while cleaning were used in court. Fujimura closes this story with the following observations:
1) We need to be will...
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