Abstract Art

[Fairee]

I know there's a fair few creative types on here, so I thought I'd ask for people's opinions on abstract art.

First, to clarify. By abstract art, I mean paintings where there is no clearly definable subject, so it's not just a painting of fruit/people/landscape/whatever. I may link some pictures if people really don't understand what I mean.

So anyway. What do you think of abstract art/paintings? Do they still count as real art? Do they make you think, or leave you bored? And do you think it takes more or less skill to do an abstract painting than to paint a picture from real life?

 

[Hippobatman]

I'm not a huge fan of abstract art. I prefer the Norwegian national-romantic paintings. The level of details is amazing, and the motives are beautiful.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Arntor]

Skill is relative to the artist and one's personal standards.

All of them make me think though.

It makes me wonder why anyone can put a dot on a piece of paper and then proclaim it as art. I admire the fact that some people can consider things as art and it takes great skill to convince others of it as well. Usually, I'd just think they were some sort of troll.

I guess I can't hate or love abstract art, because I'm probably not seeing what another person is seeing.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

You made the thread then

On Topic, I'll usually stare and vocalise my thoughts as "Y'wot?" or "Meh". Although there's probably some out there I'll like, but I have yet to investigate.

 

[sky14kemea]

this ones pretty X3

Spoiler: pic

 

[Arntor]

I think the point of abstract art is sometimes to prove that we can't explain what we like or dislike.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

Abstract art, to me, just looks like someone has thrown paint onto canvas/paper. Art isn't my thing really...

 

[electric_warrior]

like a pollock or something is good and a lot of abstract art looks cool and is good at expressing abstract, intangible emotions. however, no possible political meaning or anything like that can be read into almost any abstract art, that sort of thing is just pretentious

 

[Florion]

What do you think of abstract art/paintings? Do they still count as real art? Do they make you think, or leave you bored?

Sometimes they are quite beautiful in a way that concrete (i.e. not abstract) paintings can't quite reach. Not necessarily more beautiful, but a different kind of beautiful. They definitely count as real art; abstract artists put a lot of effort into crafting their message, just like concrete artists. I don't always understand what the message is, but I don't really have to in order to understand that it's there.

 

[ShadeOfRed]

I can't say I hate it, because there is apparently a thin line between surrealism, the escape and occasional lampooning of reality, which I love, and abstract, which as far as I'm concerned is barfing colour onto a canvas as saying it's art, which I hate. Not to say that there aren't exceptions, because there are and those exceptions look decently planned out, but most of what is considered abstract, the colour barfing, is bad.

 

[Internet Kraken]

I hate it.

Abstract art involves making something incredibly simple and then branding it as complex. You say it has a deep philosophical meaning, and then people over analyze it. Abstract art is able to give the illusion of quality. Without this we would realize that their is nothing incredible about a dot on a piece of paper.

Now that's not to say all abstract art is bad. I've seen a few pieces I have liked, but that's only because I thought some legitimate thought was put into them.

 

[Grype]

Love surrealism. Hate abstract art.I could kill that guy who got millions for "painting" a square block of colour

 

[Trivun]

Well, someone said on another thread recently about art that art is basically anything that grabs someone's attention and creates an opinion. Abstract art, however, is a bit harder to pinpoint. My own personal style is surreal, since I go mainly for encaustic art (melted wax), and that works for me. Abstract art is pretty good in my opinion, but there's little to choose between most types and styles, and anything that creates an opinion is art in a way. Obviously that's within reason, of course, a subject itself that people have an opinion about is by no means 'art'. But abstract art creates opinions just as much as other styles, and it's a very loose definition for abstract which means pretty much anything can be classed in some way as a type of abstract art. I have to say, I like it, since it makes you think more about it, and it's like Marmite - you either love it or hate it. As for me, I love it.

 

[iain62a]

this ones pretty X3

Spoiler: pic

Is that abstract art?

I mean, it does have a subject, that being the face.

Unless that isn't actually a subject.

I know nothing about the technicalities of art.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

I think sometimes people judge abstract art without even realizing how much work does go into it, and how much thought. Let me give you an example. In the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) there is a small piece of paper that is colored completely blue, I mean it's just blue, it's all the same blue, and that's it, no changes in shade or anything. People look at it and say "What the hell? Why is that in a museum? Any asshole can paint a piece of paper blue!"

But the fact is that "any asshole" couldn't have made this particular piece of blue paper. The man who painted it worked for years with a chemist to perfect that particular shade of blue, and then wanted to just cover one small squre of paper with it. When you see it like that, it's simple, elegant, really it's quite beautiful.

There's a lot more that goes into abstract art than most people realize. It is a beauty that many of us are unaccustomed to seeing, and in some cases unwilling to see, but if you give it a chance it has a lot to offer.

 

[chronobreak]

I don't get how people can just splash some colors and lines in no discernable pattern and sell that junk for thousands of dollars. I feel like it's just a pretentious community perpetuated by artists to pat each other on the back and laugh at the people who buy it.

Unless it goes good with the sofa, then whatever.

 

[lord667]

I can't say I actually like it; I think it's an attempt to conduct philosophy through aesthetics instead of argument, which rankles with me on a gut level. Then again, I've read philosophers' discourses on the problems that language throws up in their particular line of work - I particularly enjoyed Jacques Derrida tying himself into linguistic knots over the course of several pages of dense text, trying to explain what "deconstructionism" actually means for the benefit of a Japanese academic who was trying to translate the word - and I guess it's a valid enough endeavour if you take it in context. By "context", of course, I mean "gallery" as opposed to "outdoor public space".

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

this ones pretty X3

Spoiler: pic

It's like a visit to my local park while on drugs.

Is that abstract art?

I mean, it does have a subject, that being the face.

Unless that isn't actually a subject.

I know nothing about the technicalities of art.

It took me ages to find the face!

 

[sky14kemea]

this ones pretty X3

Spoiler: pic

Is that abstract art?

I mean, it does have a subject, that being the face.

Unless that isn't actually a subject.

I know nothing about the technicalities of art.

hmm, the thing about art is your meant to interpret it anyway you want

i think it looks like someone day dreaming while looking at the sky, thats why its so colourful, or something XD