Salt Floor Patterns by Motoi Yamamoto - MUST SEE

[chid]

Originally Posted by RT14

Yes

How do you know what I, or others on this board, can or can't do?

No, because those things take actual skill and talent. Are you actually comparing salt on a floor to sculpturing and fantastic works of art?

I guess you aren't familiar with contemporary art practices then?
It really isn't about skill or talent, its about the discussions these pieces create, the idea behind using salt, and the artist has succeeded in creating dialogue and controversy. It may be able to be created by you or me or some 5 year old with a lot of time on their hands, but the point RT, is that he has done it, and you, have not. Skill and talent are irrelevant.

[RT14]

I hate to bump this useless thread, but I have to defend myself from all the negative comments aimed towards me here.

Originally Posted by KTrain

If you don't think that would take some artistic talent and patience. you're probably a philistine.

I'll give you the patience aspect. It would take a ton of patience. Talent, I just don't agree with.

And wow, RT14, someone piss in your cornflakes this morning?

Not that I know of, should I be checking for that?
Honestly, I'm not angry about anything here, I just fail to see the importance or relevance to this "art".

Who are you to decide what artistically impresses people?

Me? I'm a nobody. I don't decide what impresses people, I am just sharing my opinion on the subject at hand. I thought that's what a forum was for. If others are impressed by it, great! I'm just not one of them.

People comparing this to sculpting or painting are being ridiculous in my honest opinion. If you are sculpting and you make a decent sized mistake, it's over. You have to start from scratch again. Same with painting. What happens when you screw up a leaf made of salt? You pile it up again. It just seems silly to me.

I guess the thing that bothers me about all this is that I and a lot of people I know work their asses off to make enough of a living to feed their family and live a somewhat comfortable life. This guy is doing something that in my opinion, would take no education or training and anyone with patience and a steady hand could do it. Then he calls it art and charges money for people to see it.

Anyways, if you like it, awesome. It's just not for me and that is why.

[johnnyluv]

Originally Posted by RT14

People comparing this to sculpting or painting are being ridiculous in my honest opinion. If you are sculpting and you make a decent sized mistake, it's over. You have to start from scratch again. Same with painting. What happens when you screw up a leaf made of salt? You pile it up again. It just seems silly to me.

Truth be told, a lot of art circles value originality more highly than something "looking good." Controversy and "issues" are what artists are encouraged to work with. The technical skill often gets thrown by the wayside. Hell, Damien Hirst is proud of never actually making most of his work - he has a studio of artists do it for him. (Not that this gets in the way of the man's ego, however.)

As an art student, I'm exposed to this mindset all the time. The salt installation is neat, but I definitely agree with you in spirit, RT14.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by RT14

People comparing this to sculpting or painting are being ridiculous in my honest opinion. If you are sculpting and you make a decent sized mistake, it's over. You have to start from scratch again. Same with painting. What happens when you screw up a leaf made of salt? You pile it up again. It just seems silly to me.

You screw up on a painting, you just paint over it.

By your logic, anyone with a little patience could paint beautifully. The fact that no, not everyone can paint beautifully shows the flaw in your logic.

[RT14]

Originally Posted by Mike F

By your logic, anyone with a little patience could paint beautifully. The fact that no, not everyone can paint beautifully shows the flaw in your logic.

How do you figure my logic points to that?
While painting and sculpting takes a lot of patience, the MOST important characteristic a true artist has is his/her talent. Well, it should be, but as johnnyluv says, unfortunately it often is not. I could make a leaf made of salt, if you can't I think you've got some issues. I could not paint a beautiful painting or sculpt a beautiful piece of work.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by RT14

How do you figure my logic points to that?
While painting and sculpting takes a lot of patience, the MOST important characteristic a true artist has is his/her talent. Well, it should be, but as johnnyluv says, unfortunately it often is not. I could make a leaf made of salt, if you can't I think you've got some issues. I could not paint a beautiful painting or sculpt a beautiful piece of work.

And the talent of a true artist is (Generally) their ability to create something aesthetically pleasing.

Anyone can draw lines on a paper, but it takes artistic talent to arrange them in an aesthetically pleasing way, be it literal or abstract.

Anyone can squish clay into shapes, but it takes artistic talent to do so in an aesthetically pleasing way, be it literal or abstract.

Yes, anyone can pour salt in piles or lines, but to do so in aesthetically pleasing way takes artistic talent.

You may not see anything pleasing in the art Yamamoto creates, and that's fine as art is inherently subjective, but the whole "pouring salt is easy, so anyone could create the works he creates" reminds me of a similar refrain from those who say that anyone could create abstract paintings like the one below because they're just a bunch of simple shapes and colors.



It's not the shapes that are hard, it's the arrangement and interplay.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by RT14

I guess the thing that bothers me about all this is that I and a lot of people I know work their asses off to make enough of a living to feed their family and live a somewhat comfortable life. This guy is doing something that in my opinion, would take no education or training and anyone with patience and a steady hand could do it. Then he calls it art and charges money for people to see it.

Why are you busting your hump to feed your family and live a somewhat comfortable life instead of doing something like this?

Buy some salt, rent 200 square feet of warehouse space and charge people to look at what you come up with.

Easy money.

[Burninator]

Sorry to bump this thread but I got to thinking about what art is.

I think what some people (RT14 included) are confusing is not what is art and what it isn't, it's what is good art and what is bad art. I think if the person doing it thinks it's art, then it's art. Art can be such an all encompassing and abstract word and action that it's too hard to define within the scope of something even equal abstract as skill or any other rigid definition. I think it's much harder to have the argument over whether or not something is art or not than it is to have over whether or not the art is any good or has any merit.

Here is a good analogy that I heard. A song is always a song whether you like it or not. Take for example the song Patio Lanterns by Kim Mitchell. I happen to think it's a huge steaming pile of crap song. It's still a song though, I would be crazy to say that because I don't like it, it's no longer a song.

I think the same thing goes for this. It's art, let the discussing start with whether or not it's good or bad. Art is not defined by whether or not you can do it or if you like it or not.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Sorry to bump this thread but I got to thinking about what art is.

I think what some people (RT14 included) are confusing is not what is art and what it isn't, it's what is good art and what is bad art. I think if the person doing it thinks it's art, then it's art. Art can be such an all encompassing and abstract word and action that it's too hard to define within the scope of something even equal abstract as skill or any other rigid definition. I think it's much harder to have the argument over whether or not something is art or not than it is to have over whether or not the art is any good or has any merit.

Here is a good analogy that I heard. A song is always a song whether you like it or not. Take for example the song Patio Lanterns by Kim Mitchell. I happen to think it's a huge steaming pile of crap song. It's still a song though, I would be crazy to say that because I don't like it, it's no longer a song.

I think the same thing goes for this. It's art, let the discussing start with whether or not it's good or bad. Art is not defined by whether or not you can do it or if you like it or not.

Liar. You love that song. I remember you singing it like crazy at Jason's house.