ah, the good old days when art was art

Technology adds nothing to art. Two thousand years ago, I could tell you a story, and at any point during the story I could stop, and ask, Now do you want the hero to be kidnapped, or not? But that would, of course, have ruined the story. Part of the experience of being entertained is sitting back and plugging into someone else's vision. - Penn Jillette

when i first read this quote my reaction was 'what a jerk'. first of all, mr. jillette, i've seen your comedy/magic routine, and i'm not sure you're the expert on what 'good' art is. second of all, are you kidding me? technology adds nothing to art? where've you been living? in that box where people saw you in half?

upon further review, i still don't agree with what he's saying, but i think i understand what he's trying to get at. i read a paper not too long ago from someone talking about how so many americans are depressed because we have too many choices in our world today. you can't even choose a sandwich in a deli anymore without feeling that you've made the wrong choice and will end up regretting it. the paper talks about how we live our entire lives now, making choice after choice after choice, but always being worried that it wasn't the best, or right choice and because of that, feeling that we're not good enough or smart enough. other cultures have far less 'choice' than we do, and.. oddly enough, far less depression and unhappiness.

maybe art is another area where we're giving people too many choices. maybe what penn here is trying to say is that art just needs to *be*. why must it be interactive, or involve decision-making. why do we need to explain what our art is saying. why can't the art just be beautiful or meaningful on its own, without explanation.

we've been having a lot of discussion in class about the lack of criticality in contemporary art, and how this is a huge crisis for us today. i'm not sure i'm buying into the fact that it's a crisis, truly. maybe contemporary art IS the art.. maybe this movement with technology, and this fast-paced environment where there are new technological advances on a daily basis is impossible to keep up with and therefore defies anyone to criticize it. in fact, i'd almost say that it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to be an art critic these days with a pulse on everything that's going on in the art world. further complicating matters is that the lines that used to define 'areas' of art are blurring more and more. no longer is 'photography' simply photography. new media has blurred every line imaginable, and what used to be is no longer.

but why can't we just enjoy that. why can't we just let it 'be' what it is. there's a passion again in the art world, and i think it's palpable. people are *making* things again, designing, creating, and loving every second of it. to try and keep up with it is an impossible task, to try and provide criticality - pointless. let's just let it *be* what it is.