Is "outsider artist" a category currently important anywhere outside the visual arts?
There's 758,000 hits on Google for "outsider art" -- but only 68,000 for "outsider music" -- and 1,700 for "outsider poetry". There's also absolutely nothing listed as an "anthology of outsider poetry" --- or an "anthology of outsider music" -- while there are many galleries and exhibits that claim they are presenting outsider art. Any speculations on why this is the case ? It's especially relevant to Chicago -- because Henry Darger is considered the quintessential example of this category, and he currently gets more hits on Google than all other Chicago artist names combined. But he also wrote a 15,145 page fantasy novel, and I'm really doubting anyone has ever read every page -- it certainly has yet to be published - and without his bizarre illustrations - it would probably now rest in a Chicago landfill with all his other humble possessions. There used to be a small publisher called the "Outsider Press" -- and they printed the work of some now famous writers like Keroac and Bukowski --but that seems to have remained a phenomenon of the 1960's. Perhaps the importance of outsiderness in the visual arts is connected to the enduring ideology of the perpetual avant garde - the need to be "constantly redefining what art is, and that each redefinition requires new criteria, new ways of seeing" It now appears that the worlds of high-brow literature and music have already abandoned that severe requirement -- or when it is attempted - it's only recognized as such when only done by highly trained insiders. (there's no more Moondogs in classical music) But for some reason -- the interest in "outsider art" is still going strong. ____________________________________________________________ Be a professional. Click here to earn a psychology degree. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/Ioyw6ijnep4D3857LTClKa6lqubx16 bPwfvtF1MRLwmOr5imQHPcSg/
