Is art moving to a more aesthetic sensability?

[iowasculptor]

I have been thinking about this lately and would like some input from those of you who have seen more of what is happening in the art world. Is there a trend in art/ sculpture to move away from the more socio/political/ conceptual work to a more formal sensability? Is the pendulum swinging, are people getting tired of art that makes them feel uncomfortable and are looking for work that functions on a more aesthetic level. I have made work in both ways and it seems that non art people like my formal work better and art world people like my more conceptual work better. I'm just wondering if any of you see a shift taking place. We saw in the 1960s the minimalist artists working then in the 1970s we saw the beginning of a shift to the 1980s where we say full blown conceptual socio political work being cutting edge in the 1990s in post modernism we say an acceptance of just about anything as art as long as the art talk was there to back it up and now being post post modern, where are we?

[ironman]

Hi Iowasculptor, where are we? Who knows! Having looked at your "latest work" thread, I can see where you're coming from. Most of my artist friends are trying to make a living of some sort from their art so they stick to work that operates on an aesthetic level. We've all gone down the socio/political path at one time or another but art's a hard sell and that stuff is impossible to move. We do like to show it though and you're right on about the other artists appreciating it more. I know, art's not about making saleable stuff and I for one have a rule "the dollar sign never enters the studio!", which means that I create for myself only and never ever entertain thoughts like "if I make it this way it'll sell", But, art is a commodity.
As far as your latest work is concerned, I absolutely love "Revolution/Evolution/Devolution", with its 3 sarcophaguses, which to me represent the birth-death cycle of life, but if I'm buying a piece for my home it's gonna be "I'm Hiding" with its periscope like shape and sheltered forms at the base, it operates on a more aesthetic level which I would rather look at on a daily basis.
Personally, the only socio/political stuff I covet are Picasso's Guernica, late Phillip Guston paintings and Goyas disasters of war etchings. To me they bridge the gap and also operate on an aesthetic level. Guernica is argueably one of the best painting of the 20th century.
I think that one should be true to oneself in their creative acts and not worry about which way the current trend is moving. For whatever reason my mind operates on the formal sensability/aesthetic level 99.9% of the time, so that's the type of work that I do.
We live in the age of anxiety where "anything goes", consequently no one knows where to go or what to do, with one result being that there's a lot of crap out there. I for one try to ignore it all and follow my heart and my own path.
these things usually run in cycles, socio/political this week, formal/aesthetic the next,and I think that today they're both in operation at the same time!
PLURALISM! Isn't that where we are?
Have a nice day, Jeff

[sculptor]

...it seems that non art people like my formal work better and art world people like my more conceptual work better. I'm just wondering if any of you see a shift taking place. ...?

The pendulum swing has been addressed here many times and if the recent public acceptance of my work is a valid indicator, the voices of the "common man" are beginning to influence the "art world".

let me tell you a little story

Long ago when I was studying theatre and directing, I worked with Professor Chet Long on F.G.Lorca's Blood Wedding----Chet was going for the moody long drawn out intensity of the work----I tried to use appropriate places to modify elements for pauses and occasional comic relief so an American audience could actually sit through the show without fidgeting in their seats too much. ----- Chet and I had several conversations on the subject---perhaps (as/re this thread) his most telling statement was----"I'm a tenured professor. I do not need to pander to the tastes of the common man. I am directing this play for the 1 or 2 percent of the audience whom I consider my peers."

The disconnect between the established "art world"(especially the academics) and the rest of the people has been widening for (at least)the past 50 years.
----Some of us believe it is an overstretched rubberband, ready to snap or pull the pendulum back toward a more broadly acceptable aesthetic........

¿Quien sabe?

I sculpt to my taste, my muse, my aesthetic, my voice. I can do no other. My muse is my guide and my audience shares similar taste and delights in my voice.

Other folks, other artists travel other paths. There is no single aesthetic.

rod (http://www.artists-gallery.de/img/sculptor4.jpg)(sculptor (http://www.arteutile.net/patterson/patterson.htm))

ps here is another for which I have a fondness---the younger of the Riaci bronzes

[Araich]

I don' see it. All I've noticed is that a 'slickness' or technical competence has arrived to the high end of conceptual art. This would be a natural consequence of maturing careers and technologies.

[jwebb]

I'm definitely in it for aesthetic values, and I think that's true of most if not all on this site. But I think very few of those who go to openings and blabber about and buy and sell Art for a living have any real aesthetic sensibility. There is therefore a lot of opportunity for a lot of phoney crap. A lot of the best "political" and conceptual stuff is "about" just that, I think. Somehow, one has to get noticed and known, to survive. So people are tempted to roll the dice with the most outrageous thing they can think of. And sometimes that "succeeds". I can't see any great trending toward one of these poles or the other - if they are poles. But if it were happening I'd probably be the last to know.

[rderr.com]

In life two things always float, cream and shit.

Art (of what ever style, or period,or material) is provocative. All else is decoration.

Robert or Bob or Arder or Order

[fused]

BEAUTY CAN BE QUITE PROVOCATIVE