Comments on: Man and Animals – Amy Stein's Domesticated

By: joezl

joezl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:17:02 +0000

Neha, thank you for your comment. I have not seen the video and could not find it anywhere on the internet so I can only imagine what it might look like from the descriptions. Picking up on Tim Stilwell’s comments below regarding the ‘pushiness of meaning’, one thing that strikes me in the work of all these artists is the question of accessibility. Much conceptual art is, in my opinion, so oblique and contrived – maybe in an attempt to appear clever – that any meaning or message is lost or, at best, reaches only a very exclusive audience. In my opinion, this question of accessibility is important in art that is trying to shape views and perceptions yet it is rarely talked about by art critics and commentators – maybe because lack of accessibility to the great unwashed is one of the things that maintains the aura of superiority of the elite audience to which some of this art is attempting to appeal. Its relative accessibility is one of the things that appeals to me about Amy’s work.

By: Neha Choksi

Neha Choksi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:50:57 +0000

I too saw similarities with Karen Knorr’s Fables series, but I kind of like the domestic turmoil in Corinna Schnitt’s updating of the Fable in her “Once Upon a Time” video. (I saw the video at the UCR Sweeney Art gallery–I am in the middle of writing up on the questions raised by the work in exhibited in “Intelligent Design: Interspecies Art.”)

By: joezl

joezl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:10:47 +0000

Thank you for your comment. I agree that the bear image is particularly powerful though I also like the irony of the hunter. Re your comment about preaching to the choir, I believe this is a significant issue. How does one get this sort of imagery that aspires to brand itself as ‘fine art’ out of the elitist, exclusive realms of the gallery, the collector and the rest of ‘the choir’ to a wider audience where it may actually have a positive effect?

By: Tim Stilwell

Tim Stilwell — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:47:42 +0000

Similarities with Karen Knorr’s work. I do appreciate the motivation behind these pics. Not sure about the pushiness of their meaning, though. Preaching to the choir? The one that works best for me is the bear – not, as I say, the meaning (which I find ordinary), but its form. That bizarre intrusion of white from the frame into the indeterminate black shape, set against the regular landscape. Then the punctum – the rips to eye and tooth. Flatness penetrated. There’s more going on about photography in that pic than the others.

By: joezl

joezl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:32 +0000

Dear Leo, thank you for commenting on the effect that Amy’s art had on you. The beauty of art is that it doesn’t tell us what to think and we are all able to interpret it in different ways. I do not know what the artist had in mind when she created this work. My own response to this artwork is that there is no such thing as the typical ‘human being’ and there are individuals with different views and different actions. Having said that, I believe that Amy’s art does represent the cultural tide on which we all seem to be being carried – maybe unwittingly. I think the value of this art is that it does starkly spotlight our cultural frameworks and maybe get us to stop and think rather than rushing headlong blind and deaf to what we are doing. I believe that those of us who, like Amy, create art that points this stuff out must also, at some level, believe that our fellow human beings have the capacity to behave in a more positive way. Otherwise there would be no point in creating such art.

Once again, thank you for your comment – and for your optimism. Joe

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:37:53 +0000

I feel pain when I see this sort of thing, but not for the typical reasons. I see these not as examples of humanity, but examples of how individuals can taint something beautiful. Perhaps I’m too optimistic? Perhaps I value humans too much? It’s hard to say…

Regardless of my dissension, you’ve taken some beautiful and powerful photographs– I in no way mean to speak ill of your art. It’s truly wonderful.

Respectfully,
Leo

By: joezl

joezl — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:06:58 +0000

Thanks Astrid. Glad you’re enjoying it.

By: Astrid Vella

Astrid Vella — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:07:57 +0000

Hi, What wonderfully touching photos! This site is fast becoming a repository of wonderfully inspiring photo art. Well done!

Astrid

By: joezl

joezl — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:31:24 +0000

Thanks for the comment Alice. Hopefully work like this, by drawing attention to our failings, can help make a little bit of a difference.

By: Alice Henderson

Alice Henderson — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:40:47 +0000

This is a strong but sad comment on the way we waste the beautiful life force of this planet.