Daily Challenge Today 440

P6117175.3.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Hiking along a trail in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, I passed a picnic table - which some lazy smoker decided to convert into an impromptu ashtray.

RX10_Jun14_21_table_cigarette_butt.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


A side note: I haven't shot with my Sony superzoom bridge camera for awhile, but continue to be surprised at its optical excellence.
 
Today we went to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) in Edinburgh on the last day of our two week staycation. There I took a snapshot of this:

DSCF1798.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


You won't be surprised that the sign was not part of the official art exhibition. It was just a sign at the top of the staircase in between the wonderful exhibition rooms. When I photographed the sign my husband commented that I would take a photograph of anything. He's probably right - I am not disputing that observation - but rushing around the art exhibition today I did ponder the thought that if my photograph of the sign had been printed, then framed and stuck on one of the exhibition walls with a plaque at the side of it stating:

----

Briar, b. not yesterday
Please do not touch the artwork, 2021

Photograph on Paper

Gifted to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by artist


Then bit about life of Briar [you can fill that bit in if you want to with your own creative imagination] to introduce the audience to the [con] artist.

Please do not touch the artwork is both a photograph of a sign and a sign in itself. Despite the means of simple execution, the work makes a harsh statement about art, during the pandemic, being socially distant, out of reach and out of bounds to the audience.

----

would any of the audience at the exhibition today really have noticed that my "art work" did not belong there had it been placed on the wall?

I think it was Ted Forbes from the Art of Photography who commented that when people go to exhibitions and look at art work the average time that the audience looks at an individual piece of work is just 3 seconds. That was the pre-pandemic average. During the pandemic where restrictions to the numbers of people being allowed into the exhibition at any one time and the limited time allocated to each individual to view the whole exhibition during their visit to ensure social distancing is maintained is likely to reduce that 3 second average even further.

This thought went through my mind when I later viewed this painting in the Pop Art section:

DSCF1811.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


For Sale, 1961 by Billy Apple, b. 1935
I won't bore you with the blurb about the artist, but the harsh statement he was making was about art as a commodity.

I actually enjoyed the exhibition, including Billy Apple's For Sale, albeit it was a bit rushed, no turning back if you wanted a second viewing of a painting you liked. It felt almost like being on a conveyor belt with security guards giving you a polite telling off if you tried to back track at any point.

We were in and out of the exhibition within 45 minutes (which included a toilet break), and back in the city centre again being serenaded (???) by drunk, merry Scottish football fans singing "yes sir, I can boogie" .
 
Today we went to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) in Edinburgh on the last day of our two week staycation. There I took a snapshot of this:

View attachment 261120

You won't be surprised that the sign was not part of the official art exhibition. It was just a sign at the top of the staircase in between the wonderful exhibition rooms. When I photographed the sign my husband commented that I would take a photograph of anything. He's probably right - I am not disputing that observation - but rushing around the art exhibition today I did ponder the thought that if my photograph of the sign had been printed, then framed and stuck on one of the exhibition walls with a plaque at the side of it stating:

----

Briar, b. not yesterday
Please do not touch the artwork, 2021

Photograph on Paper

Gifted to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by artist


Then bit about life of Briar [you can fill that bit in if you want to with your own creative imagination] to introduce the audience to the [con] artist.

Please do not touch the artwork is both a photograph of a sign and a sign in itself. Despite the means of simple execution, the work makes a harsh statement about art, during the pandemic, being socially distant, out of reach and out of bounds to the audience.

----

would any of the audience at the exhibition today really have noticed that my "art work" did not belong there had it been placed on the wall?

I think it was Ted Forbes from the Art of Photography who commented that when people go to exhibitions and look at art work the average time that the audience looks at an individual piece of work is just 3 seconds. That was the pre-pandemic average. During the pandemic where restrictions to the numbers of people being allowed into the exhibition at any one time and the limited time allocated to each individual to view the whole exhibition during their visit to ensure social distancing is maintained is likely to reduce that 3 second average even further.

This thought went through my mind when I later viewed this painting in the Pop Art section:

View attachment 261123

For Sale, 1961 by Billy Apple, b. 1935
I won't bore you with the blurb about the artist, but the harsh statement he was making was about art as a commodity.

I actually enjoyed the exhibition, including Billy Apple's For Sale, albeit it was a bit rushed, no turning back if you wanted a second viewing of a painting you liked. It felt almost like being on a conveyor belt with security guards giving you a polite telling off if you tried to back track at any point.

We were in and out of the exhibition within 45 minutes (which included a toilet break), and back in the city centre again being serenaded (???) by drunk, merry Scottish football fans singing "yes sir, I can boogie" .

Thank you, Karen, for your thoughtful (and, yes, entertaining, too!) text and rumination on the nature of what art is or could be or might be. Your words are, for me at least, a great counter-point to your images.

Among the many parts of your post I came back to, and reread, and thought about, was your comment about how long one actually stops to look at or consider a work of art or an image. You mentioned 3 seconds. I found that a little shocking - and also totally believable. It also reminded me of some recent essays by one of my favorite essayists - who also happens to be a truly fine photographer - Craig Mod. Craig resides in Japan and has authored some extraordinary essays - on the nature of images - on the changing essence of what a 'book' has been and is in our modern era of iPads and Kindles - and also on the exact same subject you touched upon, how little time most of us actually spend considering a work of art, or a photograph. Craig has several thoughtful 'mailing lists' to which I subscribe, including a new one entitled, simply, 'huh' - in which he posts a single photograph - and then writes a long (and often semi-stream-of-consciousness) series of words and thoughts about what actually was (and still is!) inside the 'frame' at the moment he took the photo - and different things one can see or experience when one considers the image. Part of his stated goal is to encourage people (us) to really spend more than 3 seconds - or 30 seconds - looking at something without really taking the time to either look at it - or to see it. Your observation resonated with me the same way his thoughts have.

Here is a link to his most recent 'huh' photo - and text:

I love the part about "the life of Briar..." too.
Thank you, again, for taking the time and trouble to share all this - and in the way/s you did. Really.
 
Back
Top