Abstraction in Art

[Dragon-Dancer]

To me it isn't art if I can't tell what it's supposed to represent. 3 lines of color painted on a white canvas is /not/ art it's a wasted canvas. Abstract art really just doesn't appeal to me.

[Foxchild]

To me it isn't art if I can't tell what it's supposed to represent. 3 lines of color painted on a white canvas is /not/ art it's a wasted canvas. Abstract art really just doesn't appeal to me.

Depends on the focus of the piece, if it's trying tp portray an abstract emotion/feeling, some other form of intangible device, etc. As much as you want to paint "Anger and Self Doubt", imagery of a two men screaming at each other in a wholly realistic setting shows mainly two men screaming at each other in a realistic setting.

'course, I have a weird mind, so.... yeah =P

[jent]

I agree with FC....not all concepts can be described in realistic elements. Sometimes emotion, thoughts, or abstract concepts need abstract art to represent. Yes you can represent emotion in other art but can you really represent RAW emotion without abstract art?? What if you want to only express your angst in your art and nothing else, how else could you draw this?

[nickspoon]

I did write a long-winded post, but I was struggling to make my point, so I'll just say that laminated vomit, for me, lacks the kind of aesthetic pleasure I expect from art.

The same goes for most other things declared as solely abstract.

[ShadOtterdan]

I prefer the semi-abstract. Going for pure realism is very boring, but when I can't even tell if there's a point to the picture, then I also can't enjoy it. Basically I like abstract stuff when it enhances realism. (at least I hope I got what the point of semi-abstract is, that would be more like in comics and stuff instead of portraits right?)

[Dragon-Dancer]

Depends on the focus of the piece, if it's trying tp portray an abstract emotion/feeling, some other form of intangible device, etc. As much as you want to paint "Anger and Self Doubt", imagery of a two men screaming at each other in a wholly realistic setting shows mainly two men screaming at each other in a realistic setting.

I agree with FC....not all concepts can be described in realistic elements. Sometimes emotion, thoughts, or abstract concepts need abstract art to represent. Yes you can represent emotion in other art but can you really represent RAW emotion without abstract art?? What if you want to only express your angst in your art and nothing else, how else could you draw this?

The problem I see with things like that is that it represent something to the artist but anyone else viewing the piece afterwards will just be wondering what he was thinking (or smoking) at the time he decided to make it.

[Rooster]

I like pictures to be of something rather than just colours and pretty shapes. I dunno why really, but I guess it's probably due to the fact that I'd rather look at a mountain than a picture of a mountain...

Does that make sense?

[Muninn]

I'm all for completely representational. I like pictures like that way better than the other two categories, especially the first. Though if I was feeling edgy enough I could see me trying a little representational abstract. But not much.

As for realistic drawings not being able to conjure the same feelings and emotions as more abstract art, that's absolute rubbish. Those feelings come from you. It's how you see what you see in the art that gives you the feelings. Sometimes you don't get a vibe, sometimes you do. It's to do with the viewer as much as the artist.
I have a painting of a mother and child on a country road staring in horror at the distance to a wooden statue of a cross with Jesus on it. The mother is trying to shield her child. Winds are blowing, a shadowy forest fences the background, storm clouds cover the skyline, yellow grass choked by dark green weeds. A faded bolt of lightning whizzes in the distance where the top of the statue points. The whole picture is very claustrophobic, foreboding and mysterious. It is the most powerful painting I have ever seen and it's drawn realistically.

[The Donmeister]

In the paper today I read that someone put a bunch of sheep in woollen jerseys, put them in a pen, and called it art. It's designed to "challenge what people see as art". I hate that sort of thing. I don't mind abstract art if it means something, but art for art's sake is just pointless.

[Muninn]

There was an episode of the BBC comedy Absolute Power where an artist trying to win the Turner Prize literally bleeds himself almost dry for the sake of shaking the art world with a bold new performance.

[The Donmeister]

There was an episode of the BBC comedy Absolute Power where an artist trying to win the Turner Prize literally bleeds himself almost dry for the sake of shaking the art world with a bold new performance.

Shame about the "almost" part.