Air Guitar
by Dave Hickey
(Art Assignment Book Club 1)
(Art Assignment Book Club 1)
10 Words: A challenging read forcing one to think more about art.
This book is a collection of essays written by Dave Hickey. I am not completely finished this book yet, nor do I feel I have really understood what I have read on this first read through, but I would like to put a few thoughts down before Sarah talks about it. I have read 13 of the 24 essays and can only really say I understand two of them (Dealing and Magazine Writer). Yet just because I am finding the content challenging to understand doesn't mean I am not enjoying the challenge, the ideas that are there feel important, they are just not ones I feel have really had to think about before.
One of the essays I understood was Dealing. I found the ideas it brought up interesting, and important. I read it last week when I was working on my "Never Seen, Never Will Peace" (it's so close to done... so close). I was thinking about his words, and the way he talks about the value of art and how its value isn't really something that can be measured with money. This idea ran along my head because I am currently feeling really happy with my Never Seen, Never will project. It is the first time I feel that something I have created is "art" vs a craft, or a project... I feel that there is a statement I am making with it and it is an important statement with value. I have had friends who are artest, and always wondered how one goes about setting a value for the art... In my mind its a mixture of how much you spend on the tools you used to make it (paint is expensive) and how much you value your time... (am I making minimum wage selling this to you?) I have read articles written by web comic artists or just artest online who do commissions, where they are forced by the community they are hired by to justify those costs... people think that the argument "if this was cheaper I could buy it" is a reason for someone to work less than minimum wage... The value of the art is always such a hard thing to set in a way that everyone can be happy about. I think his essay does a really good job of explaining the process and the problems.
I am about to go camping and I will continue to do my best to understand a few more of the essays while in between the canoeing and walking... I have always felt that its important to write about the books I read because it forces me to think about what i have read more. In the same way it is important to think about art, and the different ways it has built and affects our world. This book is not simple but thats ok. It is going to take more than one read through for me to get what Dave Hickey wants me to think about, but I feel that I have started and am definitely willing to keep trying.
One of the essays I understood was Dealing. I found the ideas it brought up interesting, and important. I read it last week when I was working on my "Never Seen, Never Will Peace" (it's so close to done... so close). I was thinking about his words, and the way he talks about the value of art and how its value isn't really something that can be measured with money. This idea ran along my head because I am currently feeling really happy with my Never Seen, Never will project. It is the first time I feel that something I have created is "art" vs a craft, or a project... I feel that there is a statement I am making with it and it is an important statement with value. I have had friends who are artest, and always wondered how one goes about setting a value for the art... In my mind its a mixture of how much you spend on the tools you used to make it (paint is expensive) and how much you value your time... (am I making minimum wage selling this to you?) I have read articles written by web comic artists or just artest online who do commissions, where they are forced by the community they are hired by to justify those costs... people think that the argument "if this was cheaper I could buy it" is a reason for someone to work less than minimum wage... The value of the art is always such a hard thing to set in a way that everyone can be happy about. I think his essay does a really good job of explaining the process and the problems.
I am about to go camping and I will continue to do my best to understand a few more of the essays while in between the canoeing and walking... I have always felt that its important to write about the books I read because it forces me to think about what i have read more. In the same way it is important to think about art, and the different ways it has built and affects our world. This book is not simple but thats ok. It is going to take more than one read through for me to get what Dave Hickey wants me to think about, but I feel that I have started and am definitely willing to keep trying.
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