Sunday, October 11, 2009

Are You Being Served?

This week we had Richard Orjis speaking to us, I was rather excited as I had seen an article about Richard Orjis in the 'Sunday' magazine. Which is my favourite read on a Sunday when I'm on a break at work. Anyways, he is a photographer who likes to combine and juxtapose, likes magazines, likes the idea of narrative through stills, likes connection with history and finally relates art to nature. I was captured from the moment he showed us his images. They were beautifully presented careful works with vivid blacks, serious faces and stunning flowers. I am of course talking about his 'Empire of Dirt', 'In my fictive, mythical and gothic Empire of Dirt a contemporary pagan, earth-worshipping cult, endeavours to make links with the natural world...' Unlike most of the previous lecturers he bought magazines!!!! Yes, those beautuiful glossy wonders, filled with boring words and amazing pictures. I love magazines, I have a book in my room where I stick pictures that I like from various magazines. The reason that Orjis had bought magazines was to show us his images had been placed in magazines. I was in awe, for me having one of my photos in a magazine would be brilliant, millions of people would look at them, hopefully cut the image out and stick it in their own scrap books and glance at it every now and then. I wouldnt mind at all. What I was also fascitated by was that Orjis encouraged photographers to go out there and ask for work experience. And that is my mission for the holidays.
Right, back to the question. 'High Culture' you ask. Well, um I guarantee that most people writing about 'High Culture' in these blogs will talk about designer fashion, expensive fur coats, cigars and chiwawa's in pink purses. And then there's 'Popular Culture' and I'm guessing that people will talk about 'fresh' shoes, The Simpsons, mainstream music and those naughty celebrities. Lets look at 'High Culture' and 'Popular Culture' from an art point of view. Here we go, societies definition of:
A 'High Cultured' person: A person with an appreciation for 'High Art' including literature, music and visual arts. A person who walks around in tight italian made pants and Ralph Loren shirts, oh and they also have shiny shoes and slick greased back hair. A person who is well educated and visits all the BIG fancy art galleries with their check books.
A 'Popular Cultured' person: A person with limited knowledge of 'High Art' including literature, music and visual arts. A person who walks around in ripped jeans, bogan t-shirts, oh and they also have grotty converse shoes and messy hair. A person who is living in the culture the culture in which everyone wants to live in. Normally associated with celebrities in tv/movie/radio industry.
Stereotypes are stupid. Stupid! Why do we do this, why does society want to put people in their place simply because of the way they look, act or where they were educated. Think about this, what if a 'popular cultured' person walked into a big fancy art gallery. How would people feel? How would this messy, underdressed person be percieved. I do that all the time, I walk into art galleries in jeans etc, I dont care. The good thing is that no one actually looks at me funny, New Zealand's a good place like that. Or what if a 'high cultured' person walked into the store 'Hot Topic'??!!! Jeez, beneath our fancy or 'hip' exterior's is a person, we are only human. We all have the right to walk into the Warehouse or Gucci [actually not Gucci, I heard that you stand at the door and the people from the 'inside' look at you and decide whether or not to let you in , depending on if you look rich]
But really I think that popular culture and high culture in art has been blurred. I mean look at Andy Warhol's work. He's turned 'popular culture' into 'high art', his Monroe pictures and Campbell Soup Cans fetch for like millions of bloody dollars, they are hung in fancy art galleries. They can relate to both 'popular culture' and 'high culture'. Duchamp turned a urinal into a fountain, Picasso turned a bicycle seat and handle bars into a bulls head. These works are priceless. The world would break into global panic if one of these works were stolen. You don't think a normal person can make 'high art' because they were bought up in 'popular culture' But at the end of the day, most if not all famous pictures, artwork etc will end up on the internet or magazine's where I can just rip them up and stick into my book.

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