I stumbled upon this really good article by a grad student about how different cultures view art. I especially like what the writer says about Americans.
http://gradstudentmadness.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-appreciate-art-and-you-already.html
I am also perturbed by the paragraph in which the writer points out that the people who don’t look at fine art — or who don’t read, or who don’t enjoy films where there are no aliens or shit being blown up — are really proud of the fact. They do more than shun the arts, but make themselves out to be superior for doing so. That’s a sad statement and, if you ask me, one of the contributing factors to the dumbing down of America.
#1 by mike on April 22, 2009 - 3:42 pm
Sadly, the low-brow attitude has been celebrated for so long that I think it’ll be almost impossible to reverse.
#2 by Mike (another, from WNY) on April 22, 2009 - 5:44 pm
I wonder — are French touring America as rude as Americans touring France? I appreciate his observation that part of the problem are art snobs who make potential art fans feel small because of “what they don’t know”. I also think part of the problem is an educational system that doesn’t value art education at all levels. For me, a huge part of appreciating art is having tried to make it. Having struggled to play an instrument at some point in life will leave you ever appreciative of a person who can make a piano, or violin, sing like Pavarotti. Try your hand at painting, and go to a gallery and wonder at how the heck did they ever make this huge image out of all those small brushstrokes. My problem, sometimes, is discerning “good” art from “bad” because I so often place such a high value on the mere effort of creation.
#3 by missanthropy on April 22, 2009 - 9:22 pm
I think John Cleese said something once on Countdown/Olberman about the difference between Americans and Brits: English people seem to be obsessed with money and feel superior to others when they have it. Americans, on the other hand, seem to pride themselves in a LACK of education and this is how someone like W. could be “elected” in the first place. We live in a country where people think it’s more important to relate to the leader of the free world (“He’s just like me!”) than it is to have him or her actually be smarter or better educated than they are.
#4 by Jeffrey C on April 23, 2009 - 2:42 am
You can see that in some of the idiotic comments posted on the Indy Star web site about Monday’s rally for the arts. Makes me want to split Hoosierville pronto.