On art

It is not a secret that I live in the bustling metropolis of Indianapolis.  Indy, as it is affectionately known is quite a nice city.  It is the home of the world's largest Children's Museum, has historic homes that include the residences of former presidents, successfully hosted the Superbowl, and is generally considered a model for urban redevelopment.  Note I didn't mention race cars or corn.  Nor do I intend to.  In fact, you can forget those two topics for the rest of this post. 

In addition to the aforementioned, we also have a lovely art museum.  Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).

My favorite painting they have is a piece by Turner - a watercolor depiction of sailboats during a storm, so that might tell you something about me.  What, I don't know.  But there you have it...  Turner Wikipedia Article


Today, the Captain, the Honey, and the Inlaws and I went to the IMA.  There was a traveling exhibit by Ai Wei Wei.  Let me pause for a disclaimer.  I am an unabashed traditionalist when it comes to both art and literature.  I love trashy books, I cannot lie.  But I do have a tendency to read classic novels on the beach as well.  I also tend to prefer dead white guy poetry (with the possible exception of Pablo Neruda.)  Because OMG...  Not a great translation, but read the Spanish, even if you don't speak it.

Anyway, Ai Wei Wei's work is interesting.  He was billed by the IMA as "The Most Controversial Artist in the World."  I went in expecting to be shocked.  Instead, I was mostly saddened.  I admit, I had a hard time with the exhibit, which was probably the point.  He dropped Han dynasty vases, and photographed it as it was happening.  This vase probably cost more than my car.  I get that he was challenging cultural ideals, but couldn't he have done something better with his money?   He also used industrial paint and covered Han dynasty vases with the vibrant safety yellow colors, and used traditional Qing dynasty techniques to destroy ( I mean make a work of art...  of course) at least 15 stools..  Again, I get it.  But industrial paint? 

Then, he had his tribute to the 2008 earthquake.  I'll admit, this made me sad.  He had rebar from the schools that were destroyed stacked up on the floor, and the names of the kids who were killed.  The names covered an entire wall.

So yes, I have some mixed feelings about what I viewed today.  Not really shock, just mostly sadness.  There's a level of the ephemeral about all of his work.   Photographs of naked people, photographs of Chinese police officers, intermingled with shards of 2,000 year old vases. 

I think I prefer to think of art as beauty.  I like Turner, remember?  I do think there is room for the Ai Wei Wei's of the world, but I paid $12.00 dollars to go visit his traveling exhibit that filled two rooms of the IMA, and all I felt afterward was sad..  My Turner piece I like is in a room with Monet's, Manet's, post impressionists, some paintings from the 1100s in Spain, and an O'keefe or four.  The museum itself doesn't charge for admission.  I sure wouldn't mind a print of that Turner on my wall.  Shards of a Han dynasty vase - well, I guess they are probably in the landfill already.