Art and Theory

I read something today looking at how art and theory go together that said that they do not seem to have a lot of bearing on each other. Many artists do not look at theory in an academic way and many theorists do not realize the process of making art is so different from the theory. This is a piece of the article.

The Art Newspaper: The topic of the Frieze panel is “Have Art and Theory Drifted Apart?” What are your thoughts?

Robert Storr: I’m not sure that art and theory were ever that close to begin with. There are some artists who read theory seriously but not all that many. And some of the theoretical writing that was done about artists was very important, but what people now call theory is a vast field and a relatively small amount of it bears directly on art, or at least on art production.

We’re in a very strange situation where some artists have derived a lot from their theoretical reading but never as systematically as people are inclined to think. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, who I know read theory carefully, nonetheless made a point of saying that it was not to be read in a kind of rigorous, academic way, but to help unblock thoughts and open up questions.

A lot of artists don’t want to tip their hands and show how selective and shallow their understanding is; a lot of people who do theory full time don’t really want to acknowledge that the process of making art is fundamentally different from the process of writing theory. And, therefore, even though you may share a vocabulary, you don’t share at all the same kind of generative process or goals.

How much impact do you think theory has on art?

Response to Andrea

However, is success even applicable to art, if it is so subjective?

I think the ways you suggested success enters into art are absolutely true. If the artist is happy with it and the individuals involved and in the audience are happy with it is has been successful. This does leave the question of how many people need to be happy with it for it to be a success. If the director is the only one who likes it is it a success? If one member of the audience likes it is it success? I do wonder where financial aspects come into play. With a student production monetary aspects are not terribly important, but in many productions a goal is for the members of the cast to receive a paycheck. If people are to survive as artists there has to be financial gain and this is a kind of success. If a play is not particularly liked by the cast and crew but it makes money is it a success? Also if a student production is not well liked, is it still a success if the students learned something in the process? I think success is applicable to art but first it has to be determined what the goal of the art is. If the goal is making a profit and it does it is successful. If the goal is education then if people learn it is successful. If the goal is happiness and people like it then it is successful. A play does not have to make people happy to be a success though. If the audience does not like it but it causes them to question their outlook on something, that is a different sort of success. The artist could also create a work to release pent up emotions and if it does so it has succeeded even if nobody including the artist likes the final product.  

                What goals are typical of an artist when they produce a work and how can they determine if they are successful?

Response to Brycen

Now a question that I pose is could something that is ones skill also be something that they are talented at?

I think something one is skilled at is often something that one is talented at because I think people often enjoy things they are talented at so they work at them and gain skills. That is not to say that someone cannot learn something they are not talented at, people often do, or dislike something they are talented at. I do think that when people try something and are good at it they come to like it and want to continue. This talent may give them self esteem which allows them to continue the subject even when they struggle with it. They remember that they can do it and so they do not give up. When someone struggles with every aspect of something they learn it is much easier to simply stop and say they cannot do it. I think many skilled people began as simply talented and may have surpassed their natural skill as they gained skill or combined their talent with skill.

Do you think having talent inclines people to gain skills?

Response to Andrea

Can someone be better at an art form than someone else? Or is the skill just different?

                I do think that some people are better at an art form than others especially when it comes to skill. Skill involves practice and experience with an art form. Working 100 hours will increase skill more than 10 hours. I do not think this is elitist at all because anyone can achieve a high level of skill. To say that skill is just different is like saying that a kindergartner’s essay is as good as someone with a college degree in English because we cannot be completely objective. To take skill away as an important aspect of art production is equivalent to saying that hard work does not matter. No matter how little time you spend trying to learn something you are just as worthy of being an artist as your neighbor who never spent time trying to learn. Skill is a matter of levels which are not just different but important. This is not to say that simple or primitive artwork is not art because the work is not as complicated. It probably takes some skill to recognize the beauty in simple things and some art may turn out quite well without a high skill level. Talent certainly contributes to how well an art form turns out. I also think it is a mistake to associate skill purely with academic learning. Practice by working with an art form in your own way in your own time can also contribute to skill level. Someone working with a form the first time is not going to produce as well as when they work with a form the second, third or any future time. The more skill a person has the more they will be able to present their ideas as they imagine them. People with more skill will be able to express themselves to a greater degree.

                How important is skill in art?