I was looking at my desk and noticing the kitsch I have all over it. Despite the fact that I've been training in the graphic arts for the past four years or so, I still succumb to the emotional pull of kitschy design. This used to upset me as I grew more aware of it, but I eventually decided that I would go mad trying to run away from something that has completely permeated our visual culture.
I got a card today from my mom today with a Thomas Kinkade print on the front. We've had the conversation before about why artists hate Kinkade, and she apologized in her letter about the inappropriateness of it, but it was the only one she had around. The thing is, he has gotten in the mind of the public in a way no fine artist has been able to do, or my mom would never have had that card around. That's something to sit up and take notice of. If we want to communicate through art, we need to do it in a way that people can understand and take to heart.
I chose this photograph purely for aesthetic reasons, because I think the repetition of form and the way the light changes the wall's colors is "pretty". Some people would say that makes it kitsch. I'm ok with it.
When it comes to Kinkade, I don't know that we should take notice of what he's doing. I mean, you're right in a sense. He has found his clientel and catered to their ignorance of what art is supposed to be. He has sold out solely to make money, and makes a lot of it. What should be noticed is not what he's doing rather we should look at how the public is reacting. Let's think about how ignoranat most people are about the concept of good art, and all the traditional techniques that go into making it. Part of that is because art programs are rarely funded and ussually always the first to be cut. So the public has little interaction and education of "real" art. This is a good reflection of how little our culture values art. I could also go into how this reflects the struggle photography itself has with be considered a 'real' art form. But for the sake of this forum, I'll stop right here.
ReplyDeleteInteresting image... I don't think you should punish yourself for falling for kitsch. I don't think it's anything any of us can avoid whether we collect it genuinely or just for laughs.