On Abstract Art

Rating:
Summary: Veiling the Subject
Review: A woman cuts up bits of paper and makes a tacky collage that would disgrace the aesthetic judgement of a pre-schooler; a man paints a big red dot, a big yellow dot, and - wait for it - a small black dot; another man drops bits of torn paper and glues them on a sheet of paper where they fall; another man (famously) paints vertical and horizontal straight lines and fills some of the squares with primary colors; a woman puts rows of bricks on the floor in straight lines that would be extremely thrilling if it wasn't so mind-numbingly boring; and, to cap it all, a man paints a white square on a white square - duh!

It's all supposed to mean something. For Briony Few, the the writer, it means a chance to spout over-intellectualized jargon that usually boils away to nothing. For example:

Human figures and objects have been expelled from the pictures but there is always at least one body which remains in this scene and that is the spectators.

This means that someone is looking at a picture that doesn't have any people in it. Great. I guess this is how they earn their money in academia. This book is a good example of what is quite common in art history and criticism, the pose of knowledge instead of its communication.

The history of modern art can be divided into two clear movements. First there was a move towards increasing explicitness in art which climaxed in the efforts of Surrealists like Dali to drag the processes of the mind out into the daylight. This tended to strip away the veils of mystery and made art almost unnecessary, so this was quickly followed by a move to mask and hide the subject of paintings as we see in the work of Miro and his three dots, abstract expressionists like Pollock, and colorfield painters like Rothko.

When I read a book like Fer's I realise that the same process has occurred in art criticism. For every critic like Martica Sawin (Surrealism in Exile) who do what they can to make the processes of art history transparent, there are countless others like Fer who do what they can with their lardy, tautological, and over-conditional and ambiguous jargon to mask and veil the true history of art. People like this are driven by the same motives as medieval guilds and the Magic Circle. They want to retain control of their area of expertise by preventing their audience, customers, or readers, from finding out about it. We are simply supposed to read this book and 'sense' their knowledge without being allowed to understand it. Understanding whatever clear ideas such writers as Fer have, would reduce them to the the intellectual minnows they are.

Rating:
Summary: ON ABSTRACT ART?
Review: ________________________________________________________________________________________________

This book is certainly not for the faint-hearted. If you're looking for a fast and entertaining read - trust me, you'll be wasting your time. A person reading it who does not already have a somewhat well-grounded understanding of abstract and conceptual art - as well as art history, may well poke fun at some of the examples Briony Fer uses and the rationale behind them - but this would be out of ignorance. This is the very reason why abstract art in general is usually not embraced by the masses. It requires a certain amount of initiation or education. Unless a person understands this and is willing to do a little exploring and assimilating, abstract art will largely stay an art for artists themselves and those who understand the types of problems artists are trying to solve. It's really not that difficult a chore to undertake - to learn to understand and appreciate abstract art - it just requires a willingness to work at it and an ability to become and remain open-minded. There'll always be some people who refuse to be "teachable" and that's sad. They'll never be able to decipher the things they'd like to and thereby learn what they're missing.

That lecture aside - and although I'll always take issue with ignorance and how it can rob a person of the ability to assess the significance of fundamental developments in abstract and conceptual art - I do agree that Briony Fer seems to have been "blessed" with a tremendous gift for confounding, not only the masses, but also some very intelligent artistically informed people. Her credentials are impressive enough, but an average reader - one who isn't somewhat well versed in these issues in the first place and who doesn't understand the world of art academia - is going to come off thinking her book is nothing more than longhair snobbery. Fer perpetuates the age old problem that has faced avante garde art, that of making it inaccessable to the average person. I hate to say it, but more times than not - this seems to be done on purpose. Many of the leading-edge art community like making each other feel superior; members of an elitist club; private initiates. What appears at times to be intentional ambiguity on Fer's part can make the average reader (and even artists themselves) question at times whether she knows what she's talking about or is just trying to convince us she does. If a reader has to spend more time translating what an author is saying than focusing on understanding the subject of the book, something is very wrong. I'm suprised this book ever made it to print, unless it was originally intended only for the very highest echelons of the abstract art community, and even then, many of these would have trouble following her. If you're looking for a narcissistic excercise in communication more than the unraveling of the mysteries and concepts behind abstract art - this book is most definately for you.

After having said all this, I'm not going to totally trash this book. The preceding is mainly a warning of some of the obstacles you'll encounter if you make the attempt to read it. You may be a unique individual who's able to look beyond Briony Fer's less than helpful writing style. There is good information here if you have patience, take it in slowly, and leave yourself some time to ponder over it as you read. It shouldn't have to be this difficult, but unfortunately that's what we've been given to work with here. The book's chapters include: (1 Imagining a Point of Origin: Malevich and Suprematism; (2 Decoration and Necessity: Mondrian's Excess; (3 The Laws of Chance; (4 Poussiere/Peinture: Bataille on Painting; (5 The Cut; (6 Bordering on Blank: Eva Hesse and Minimalism; (7 Judd's Specific Objects; and the Postscript: Vision and Blindness. The book has some excellent photographs of some great art and examples of what she's trying to relate and, in places, Fer's narrative is slightly more lucid and easier to follow. Try not to give up only part way through the book. Put it aside after you've finished and come back to it in about six months. In the meantime, mull it over in your mind while doing additional reading and looking at as much abstract art as you can - thinking about what you've read. If possible and you feel so inclined, taking some art history and art appreciation courses at the university level would be extremely helpful. When you do finally read this book again you'll be surprised at the greater understanding you'll have and retention you'll experience.

This is a very difficult book to rate. There really is a lot of good information here, but it will be so difficult for most readers to assimilate - I'm only going to rate it 3 stars. Don't be confused when you see the 5 star rating above my name, I'm doing this to offset the other review which is wholly unjustified - this leaves a 3 star rating for the book overall. In the long run, if you follow my advice in the preceding paragraph, you may even end up considering it a 5 star book.

Don't give up! Abstract art can be fun and rewarding . . . . . . Good Luck!

Rating:
Summary: ON ABSTRACT ART?
Review: ________________________________________________________________________________________________

This book is certainly not for the faint-hearted. If you're looking for a fast and entertaining read - trust me, you'll be wasting your time. A person reading it who does not already have a somewhat well-grounded understanding of abstract and conceptual art - as well as art history, may well poke fun at some of the examples Briony Fer uses and the rationale behind them - but this would be out of ignorance. This is the very reason why abstract art in general is usually not embraced by the masses. It requires a certain amount of initiation or education. Unless a person understands this and is willing to do a little exploring and assimilating, abstract art will largely stay an art for artists themselves and those who understand the types of problems artists are trying to solve. It's really not that difficult a chore to undertake - to learn to understand and appreciate abstract art - it just requires a willingness to work at it and an ability to become and remain open-minded. There'll always be some people who refuse to be "teachable" and that's sad. They'll never be able to decipher the things they'd like to and thereby learn what they're missing.

That lecture aside - and although I'll always take issue with ignorance and how it can rob a person of the ability to assess the significance of fundamental developments in abstract and conceptual art - I do agree that Briony Fer seems to have been "blessed" with a tremendous gift for confounding, not only the masses, but also some very intelligent artistically informed people. Her credentials are impressive enough, but an average reader - one who isn't somewhat well versed in these issues in the first place and who doesn't understand the world of art academia - is going to come off thinking her book is nothing more than longhair snobbery. Fer perpetuates the age old problem that has faced avante garde art, that of making it inaccessable to the average person. I hate to say it, but more times than not - this seems to be done on purpose. Many of the leading-edge art community like making each other feel superior; members of an elitist club; private initiates. What appears at times to be intentional ambiguity on Fer's part can make the average reader (and even artists themselves) question at times whether she knows what she's talking about or is just trying to convince us she does. If a reader has to spend more time translating what an author is saying than focusing on understanding the subject of the book, something is very wrong. I'm suprised this book ever made it to print, unless it was originally intended only for the very highest echelons of the abstract art community, and even then, many of these would have trouble following her. If you're looking for a narcissistic excercise in communication more than the unraveling of the mysteries and concepts behind abstract art - this book is most definately for you.

After having said all this, I'm not going to totally trash this book. The preceding is mainly a warning of some of the obstacles you'll encounter if you make the attempt to read it. You may be a unique individual who's able to look beyond Briony Fer's less than helpful writing style. There is good information here if you have patience, take it in slowly, and leave yourself some time to ponder over it as you read. It shouldn't have to be this difficult, but unfortunately that's what we've been given to work with here. The book's chapters include: (1 Imagining a Point of Origin: Malevich and Suprematism; (2 Decoration and Necessity: Mondrian's Excess; (3 The Laws of Chance; (4 Poussiere/Peinture: Bataille on Painting; (5 The Cut; (6 Bordering on Blank: Eva Hesse and Minimalism; (7 Judd's Specific Objects; and the Postscript: Vision and Blindness. The book has some excellent photographs of some great art and examples of what she's trying to relate and, in places, Fer's narrative is slightly more lucid and easier to follow. Try not to give up only part way through the book. Put it aside after you've finished and come back to it in about six months. In the meantime, mull it over in your mind while doing additional reading and looking at as much abstract art as you can - thinking about what you've read. If possible and you feel so inclined, taking some art history and art appreciation courses at the university level would be extremely helpful. When you do finally read this book again you'll be surprised at the greater understanding you'll have and retention you'll experience.

This is a very difficult book to rate. There really is a lot of good information here, but it will be so difficult for most readers to assimilate - I'm only going to rate it 3 stars. Don't be confused when you see the 5 star rating above my name, I'm doing this to offset the other review which is wholly unjustified - this leaves a 3 star rating for the book overall. In the long run, if you follow my advice in the preceding paragraph, you may even end up considering it a 5 star book.

Don't give up! Abstract art can be fun and rewarding . . . . . . Good Luck!