On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 3:12 PM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote:
> First off, you're attempting to define art, which is always difficult. > There are things I don't like about that, including the association with > the video and the 12-year-old girl's sexual innuendo in that video with > Shia LeBeouf. I just finished "The Fall" and I'm not comfortable with the > perverse sexuality of the 15/16 year old in that show. (Odd how they > emphasized the girl turned 16. Like they knew censors would be watching). > But the definition of art is broad. Her singing is good so just about > anything she does to accompany it gets the prot ection of being called art. > It was odd, but is it that much odder than David Bowie in a tight, > knee-length skirt or Tom Waits in full hobo regalia? > Steve Allen railed against rock and roll in part because it lacked > artistic merit. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpxhEoV5IsE > Is Frank Zappa playing the bicycle artistic? > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MewcnFl_6Y > Again, with respect, I disagree with you here. I am not attempting to define "art" (quotation marks because only the broadest definition of art would ever apply to the musical guest on SNL, or any mainstream entertainment media), I am asking those who found this particular piece of putative art meaningful to say something about why. Of course that does pre-suppose some definition of art, but I am happy to let those who like it supply their own. Obviously there is no objective standard of "good art", and reasonable people of good will and intelligence will often disagree (which I take is the meaning behind the term YMMV). Still, if we don't have some ability to say that performance X is better than performance Y, then there is really no point in any art criticism, or indeed any discussion or conversation about art. I am certainly willing to consider the possibility that I am wrong, and that Sia is indeed a meaningful artist with a lot to contribute - I have been wrong about such things before. Indeed, the main way I have found that I have been wrong before is to say something like "I don't like X - why do you?" and have thoughtful and articulate people share their views, which sometimes persuades me to try it again, or look at it in a different light. Isn't that what productive conversations are all about? -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
