WTF: Performance (F)art by William Dolan
WTF is a periodic rant about an ill of the art world, one of humankind’s most screwed-up endeavors.
I have a problem with performance art* that relies on doing something outrageous in public. This stuff isn’t any different than stupid radio, game show or reality show stunts. High art…it ain’t. No matter how much philosophical, psychological or sociological bullshit you attach to it, this type of art is just garbage. It’s “attention-getting” nonsense…and too bad that the art world actually gives it attention. To all curators and gallerists: there is good work out there so please pass on the “cherries stuffed in the vagina, tampons in the mouth, sucking your toe, trying to talk while having water in your mouth, etc. etc. etc.
* Not all performance art is bad. I’m just discussing the shitty stuff…you know who you are!
Category: WTF 6 comments »
March 6th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Nice one Bill -
March 8th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I guess it’s important to point out that shitty watercolors or oil paintings are also bad…..the works that continue to rely on the sentimental is a good place to start. Its just that people don’t get as mad at these efforts as they do bad performance art. Why is that?
March 8th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
sure we do:
http://neotericart.com/2009/01/21/can-you-draw/#more-271
http://neotericart.com/2009/08/08/wtf-craft/#more-449
http://neotericart.com/2008/12/16/my-kid-could-do-that/#more-244
March 9th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Oh good. I stand corrected. Pax.
March 25th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I rant in public as you saw on FB – thanks for your comments. How do i subscribe to this blog by email?
best,
March 26th, 2010 at 9:57 am
You made some great points! In the “About This Entry” box, there’s an RSS feed link for this post and in there are RSS feed links. I’ll try to make them more apparent in a design refresh. In the meantime, however, here are the links:
feed://neotericart.com/2010/03/06/wtf-performance-fart-by-william-dolan/feed/
feed://neotericart.com/feed/