***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 13:40:55 -0500
   [From]: "Juan Jose Diaz Infante" <jdiazinfante@altamiracave.com>
     [To]: Cultural Exchange via Internet <forum1@hkw.kbx.de>
[Subject]: Re: [forum1] Re: web curating/exhibiting

Hi Gue
Hi all

Trying to add something to Gue's statement
I think it is important to have at least a  definition of art
in order to come to properly construction of a thought

Art and painting are not the same thing.

Art as I define it is the exercise of searching for the poiesis or the
poetics of each creator. Nonetheless the usage of the poiesis or the
theoretical frame of the poiesis can be used towards many objectives (that
is why Franco killed all the poets during the Spanish Revolution).
The "definition" of artist of Macluhan says "In a society of slow change art
is a luxury, in a society of fast change is the only one in the control
tower" . We could define the artist either as a poet or as the "visionary"
(or capable of decoding the present). In both cases it involves the proper
usage of language.

The position of Jaques Maritain, "There are artists capable of feeling or
capable of creating, it is very rare that they are able to feel and create".
In this case the emotional narrative has 3 levels. The creator being like a
lower level.

If we were to take someone like Christo, marketing expert also, He does not
sacrifice the poiesis. It is his understanding of the boundries of the
poetic action what makes him capable of using it for the "financing" of the
project.

In all cases Art is a matter of attitude. In art what is important is the
experience. The piece of art is only a part of the experience.

The collector in most cases does not understand the codes (in either case if
they were to exist within the artwork or not). He even thinks that the
painting "is" the experience.

As far as making it a product. I think the book "Artful Partners" about the
relationship between Berenson and Duveen says it all. Once you need an
expert to understand your immediate reality (in this case art). Reality
becomes a metalanguage, everything is about itself.

Marketing is ten times more efficient when the product is good and honest.
Not only in art, in any product. Understanding the nature of the product is
what makes it succesful.

Therefore paintings made specifically to be sold are not art, they are
actually the handicrafts of the 20th century and it is different to the
concept of Art that is sold.


Regards

Juan