Alias: 1020746s
I was reading some articles on the online medium Subjekt, when my attention was captured by an image of a room with lights in different colors. Looking pretty shabby actually. The article was a review of the Lofoten International Art Festival 2019. The review tells us about the environment and the art of the festival. The writer really gets my attention when she writes about an Ipad which disappears behind a 28 meter high pennant and as well that some photography’s can be missed because the lights are very dark inside the exhibition.
There are two questions which I want to discuss with you. First, what is the value of an Ipad in an exhibition? And second, how can you equalize an Ipad and photograpy as art? I need to clarify that I have not seen the setting of the different artworks, maybe it makes perfectly sense that the Ipad should get more attention, but I want to discuss the value of the materials which has been used to fill the rooms at Liaf (Lofoten International Art Festival).
Today, when you go to a contemporary art museum in Norway or in other countries you will probably have a lot of questions, regarding the art. Maybe because it is too personal, only the artist can interpret it? Or is there a great lack of craft, so the lack of creativity makes you speechless, because there is nothing to discuss? The object, the Ipad is perfect, made by a robot in China… Nothing to discuss.
The value of the art, is of course subjective. But is it really art WITH value, when you go to the nearest electronic shop and buy an Ipad and present it as art? What is the value of that work, and how would you proceed to give it the value? Why is it, that today, most artist uses readymade? What about Copyright? Can you, as an artist, display an Ipad in a museum or gallery and add value to it? What about the value which it already has as a well-known brand?
This is a big discussion today, what is art? What is the value of contemporary art when you compare it to Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci? Mona Lisa you can at least have hanging on your wall (probably a copy, I hope…) but you can most likely not have an Ipad lying next to a 28 meter high pennant in your living room.
Making sense of art and design industries 