I checked out this artist's work. Of these iconic images of America, he writes:
"This naïve boosterism seems, along with the quaint hand-colored look of the cards, obsolete. Rightly so. The modern, globally-interconnected world we inhabit is so much... more.
The postcards are missing something important, the key ingredients in modern life: complexity, anxiety, and ambivalence.
So I fixed them"
So we are agreed, we do not all have the same taste in art. I rather like it. Especially the banners.
.
I recently read an explanation (in the context of markets & investments) of why pessimism 'sells' so much better than optimism: pessimism creates a sens of urgency, goosing you to act & protect yourself ... while optimism is, well, less compelling.
I imagine that the same dynamic is at work with respect to art: if art reflects & confirms what you already think, it's not gonna move your needle ... but if art juxtaposes, say, facts that do not match your values, your pulse might quicken, your mind might become more alert, etc.
I find Mr Opdyke's piece a little heavy-handed - hence my title for this thread - but I think it qualifies as art, and that it is pretty darn good.
T F Chen's City Gleaners (1985) is a far better example of "mocking, rejecting and holding traditional America and its symbols in utter contempt."
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
David Opdyke's postcard-ageddon is a very large mosaic of traditional view cards, enhanced with gouache to create unifying themes about That Thing That Is Not Happening.
http://davidopdyke.com/ ... interactive image
NYTimes write-up
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: David Opdyke's postcard-ageddon
I checked out this artist's work. Of these iconic images of America, he writes:
"This naïve boosterism seems, along with the quaint hand-colored look of the cards, obsolete. Rightly so. The modern, globally-interconnected world we inhabit is so much... more.
The postcards are missing something important, the key ingredients in modern life: complexity, anxiety, and ambivalence.
So I fixed them"
re: David Opdyke's postcard-ageddon
So we are agreed, we do not all have the same taste in art. I rather like it. Especially the banners.
re: David Opdyke's postcard-ageddon
.
I recently read an explanation (in the context of markets & investments) of why pessimism 'sells' so much better than optimism: pessimism creates a sens of urgency, goosing you to act & protect yourself ... while optimism is, well, less compelling.
I imagine that the same dynamic is at work with respect to art: if art reflects & confirms what you already think, it's not gonna move your needle ... but if art juxtaposes, say, facts that do not match your values, your pulse might quicken, your mind might become more alert, etc.
I find Mr Opdyke's piece a little heavy-handed - hence my title for this thread - but I think it qualifies as art, and that it is pretty darn good.
T F Chen's City Gleaners (1985) is a far better example of "mocking, rejecting and holding traditional America and its symbols in utter contempt."
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey