With the right subject line this time... On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Tom C <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > sure, if you think making money out of shit is the be-all and end- >>> all, >>> > but his work is still shit and it will always be dismissed as shit by >>> > people who know shit from shinola. >>> > >>> > B >>> >>> Bob, >>> >>> You and I both work in IT and myself specifically in software >>> development. You don't think we've made money out of shit/shinola? >>> >>> I frequently think that if I could get paid the same to shovel manure >>> in horse stables, I'd rather shovel manure. Because I'm basically just >>> shoveling a different kind of manure every day, and it's far more >>> stressful than horse-shit. >> >> Shovelling manure in a stable is an honest, decent job not to be looked down >> on, and I expect it has its own share of stress. The family who lived in my >> house in 1901 made their living working in the London Transport stables. >> Working in IT is also an honest, decent job, by and large, even if we only >> do it to make a living and a profit for some fat cat somewhere. >> >> Making money by dishonestly peddling shit as if it were something better is >> not an honourable, decent job, it's taking advantage of people. Paintings >> such as Thomas Kinkade's are shit glorified by his marketers and advertising >> men, who are the worst kind of pimps because they push the idea that it is >> on a par with work by people like Constable, or Jackson Pollock or even >> Stephen Shore, and that it's just snobbery and prejudice that makes people >> like me look down on it. >> >> This is like telling people that Sunny Delight is as good as Puligny >> Montrachet. It isn't. It appeals to the undeveloped taste of children. >> Children have an excuse, but eventually they should grow up, educate their >> tastes and stop liking stuff just because it tastes sugary and sparkles >> brightly. Their lives will be massively richer for it. Liking Thomas >> Kinkade's work is arrested development. >> >> B
I don't care for his style but I don't think he was dishonest in peddling it. While not 'high art', beauty is in the eye of the beholder and he definitely found a niche and exploited it. If I took crappy photographs and someone thought they were great and wanted to pay me a lot for them, I'd be happy to let them and make more of them to boot. I can't paint any better now than I could when I was in kindergarten, so he's certainly a better painter than I am. If people felt uplifted or cheered up by his work, due to it's bright colors or idealized themes, then good for them. He was apparently able to bring some degree of joy into people's lives and that's not a bad feather to have in one's cap. Here in America where many people decorate with guns and John Deere tractor-branded decor, well, his work is a step above that. No offense to gun and tractor decorators. Tom C. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
