On Cynicism
It seems to me that "cynicism" has become a code word for things we don't like, and because it has drifted from its origins and become this nebulous swear word, as soon as it enters any discussion all the questions in that discussion become unanswerable. Cynical really means either the belief that all people are motivated by selfishness (a belief that I find a lot among people who decry art as cynical) or behavior that is calculating and selfish. Is a lot of art at some level calculating and selfish - of course. But John Currin is a perfect example of an artist who is openly calculating and selfish. He has even said publicly that he started doing figurative painting because no one else in the New York art world was doing it so it was a good strategy for getting noticed. A choice based on pure calculation and selfishness that has produced paintings that almost anybody can like. Accessibility and generosity can also be cynical. Does that in itself make Currin's art bad art? Fisher6000, I know you like his work. Does his cynical strategy sour his work for you now? I don't think so.
The point of this is that I agree that a lot of art currently showing is lacking somehow, but I think that using the word "cynical" actually keeps us from really finding out what it is we object to. The word is morally loaded and vague. To really grapple with the issue we have to be first neutral and precise, so that we can identify without judgment what we want, what we have, and whether the demand for what we want is reasonable.
It seems to me that "cynicism" has become a code word for things we don't like, and because it has drifted from its origins and become this nebulous swear word, as soon as it enters any discussion all the questions in that discussion become unanswerable. Cynical really means either the belief that all people are motivated by selfishness (a belief that I find a lot among people who decry art as cynical) or behavior that is calculating and selfish. Is a lot of art at some level calculating and selfish - of course. But John Currin is a perfect example of an artist who is openly calculating and selfish. He has even said publicly that he started doing figurative painting because no one else in the New York art world was doing it so it was a good strategy for getting noticed. A choice based on pure calculation and selfishness that has produced paintings that almost anybody can like. Accessibility and generosity can also be cynical. Does that in itself make Currin's art bad art? Fisher6000, I know you like his work. Does his cynical strategy sour his work for you now? I don't think so.
The point of this is that I agree that a lot of art currently showing is lacking somehow, but I think that using the word "cynical" actually keeps us from really finding out what it is we object to. The word is morally loaded and vague. To really grapple with the issue we have to be first neutral and precise, so that we can identify without judgment what we want, what we have, and whether the demand for what we want is reasonable.
posted by gypsy_kat at 11:28 AM
1 Comments:
when i was young, highschool, my friends and i were very interested in the subjects of cynicism and sarcsim. it was cool. part of that was the childish pleasure taken in stabbing someone else verbally, and part of it was the enjoyment of wit: the skill of mocking or condemning someone or something in a way that preserves or elevates the particiant's satus. at the basic level, it's all about elitism and selfishness, but there is another moment contained within the cynical. one that is giving in the way that 'truth to power' speach is. long ago, i felt that our cynicism was about that giving moment. sure, it's selfish, but the selfish selves that i surrounded myself with and i saw ourselves as good people: accepting and open, but 'knowing'. and cynicism was a powerful way to make distinctions about the world and refine our perception of it.
lala.
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