February 22 ’
12
“The other day, I asked a smart senior curator for whom I have a lot of respect, “What is an artist?” She said that she wasn’t interested in the question and implied that it was dim of me to ask. Indeed, many art-world insiders refuse to consider the issue. They assert that living artists are so unique that it is impossible to generalize about them so it would be misguided—not to mention disrespectful—to pin them down with a definition. When art-worlders answer the question, their most common response is suspiciously closed. “An artist is someone who makes art,” they say. “But what is art?” we ask. “It is made by an artist,” they reply. This circular reasoning is meant to throw us off the scent. It implies a fruitless line of inquiry. Paradoxes are supposed to be sexy, but this one offers little more than a redundant loop that forecloses exploration.”
(Sarah Thornton. “What is an Artist?” (via stcottingham)

(Source: canadianart.ca)

)

2 notes (via gr-gr-girl & stcottingham )

  1. enane reblogged this from gr-gr-girl
  2. gr-gr-girl reblogged this from stcottingham
  3. stcottingham posted this