Serge, Marc, and Yvan
As a freshman at NYU Tisch school of the Arts, the initial topic of any group class discussion began with the age old question, “What is Art?” Our unformed, naive minds tossed and turned with notions and quandaries, tracing the origin of hip-hop and dissecting the value of shock art until one became driving on the endless roundabout of what actually defines art and who decides. Is the purpose of art to make you feel? But art is relative. Right? Is art for art’s sake? But art should be for everyone. Right? And who is really qualified to decide what is art and what is yet another Lindsay Lohan film? Maybe the root of all this exciting art gab around the water cooler needs to be about what perpetuates the purpose and creation of art. The fact that art is both object and subject, is in fact what makes it “art”. While I am sure this is the topic of discussion pursed on everyones lips as they gallivant down Bourbon or pop it like it’s hot to some yacht bounce, it’s hard to get a really good banter about the social implications and worth of modern conceptual art while knocking back a few brewskies before riding a mechanical whale. So in preparation for The NOLA Project’s run of “Art”, a play by Yasmina Reza, at the NOMA all August long, I have decided to create a “Cosmo” like quiz (how pop “art” culture appropriate, right?) to help audience members find out where they stand on the issue of what defines art and more importantly what character they identify with most!
Choose one answer for each of the questions below that best describes you and post your results by leaving a comment below!
1) If at a gallery opening of a new posh artist do you…
a) Inquire how much the art work is because you’re building a collection.
b) Pop a few vitamins out of frustration and have playful argument with the curator about the purpose of deconstruction.
c) Pick the cashews out of all the nut bowls and then ask if the artist is fashionable.
2)When considering purchasing a new work of art you ask…
a) Check or credit?
b) Do you think I’m an idiot? Because only and idiot would pay that price for that child’s drawing you call art.
c) Will my new wife like it?
3) Upon receiving an invitation to the new installation at the NOMA you decide to bring…
a) A friend.
b) An apprentice.
c) Your nagging future mother-in-law.
4) In decorating your living room you prefer to hang…
a) Modern art with simplistic nuances.
b) A traditional Flemish painting.
c) Family heirlooms.
5) When starring at a seemingly blank canvas you…
a) Buy it.
b) Laugh at it.
c) Stare inquisitively with a half smirk, half smile.
If you answered mostly a’s you are a Serge, b’s a Marc, c’s an Yvan. Post your results by leaving a comment below!
Now go see what all the fuss is about: “Art” at the New Orleans Museum of Art
–Kyle Williams
Actress & Blogger, kylejunewilliams.com
I’m a Marc. Duh.
Another Marc here
Brilliant writing…you should be writing plays!