Well, I thought at first that I might come down in favour of the Public Art Galleries. My wife and I like pictures, and we’re fond of public institutions such as libraries. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/freak.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/freak.gif" alt="" /> Just a pair of old squares really.
I just did a quick count and – not including photos or things cut from magazines –there were over 100 pictures on our walls. Quite crowded, considering that it’s just 8 rooms, 4 of which are a hallway, a kitchen, a laundry and a bathroom.
It’s mostly inexpensive prints (by all the usual suspects, through to work by Chinese and Japanese artists) but also 20 or so originals, mostly presents from local artist friends, and four or five done by relatives. Some lovely stuff, but nothing that the Uffizi, Guggenheim or Tate will be beating our doors down to acquire... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />
But, when I think about it, I haven’t been in a public gallery in years. Instead, I have put a lot of effort into making sure that my life gets plenty of ‘parkland’ style views and a generous dash of sunsets. Plus I’m rather partial to enjoying the "curve in the roadway" too.
The view from my favourite chair faces west through a sweep of windows and french doors towards the sunsets. I can sit and watch the sun go down every day for the rest of my life if I choose, and I frequently do. With a soothing glass in hand if required. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
No, stuff the general populace – ignorant pearl glutted swine that they are – let my own naked self interest guide my vote. Art is wherever you look, in the gentle hands of a mother bathing a baby, in the flash of a parrot’s wing, the shadow of one building across another, or the random splashes of paint on a house painter’s shirt, and other such poetic flapdoodle... Art only comes to life in the eye and brain of the person looking. It’s everywhere, and if you need someone to stick a frame round it, put it a special building and tell you it’s art, then you’re probably wasting your time anyway. I believe that people like Marcel Duchamp have hinted at this approach before. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />
By all mean spend the money on more environmentally soothing projects. Unless of course Hakea gets his grant and gives me a role in his New Art action piece... He and I could definitely enjoy exploring the Art to be found in "the curve of a roadway", among other things. There is some art that should still be encouraged. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/party.gif" alt="" />
Now if you’ll excuse me, sunset is only 10 minutes away and I think I can hear the cry of a trapped cork that needs to be released from captivity. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" />
