Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/15

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: new clothes - or, "OHMIGOD!!! THAT GUY IS STARK NAKED!!!
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 10:20:49 -0000

christian becker [8fps@gmx.de] opined:

Calling someone's work 'inaccessible' says more about the
viewer than the work. Take it or leave it. What these guys are - at least -
trying to do is to break new grouds, discover new sights, change the way we
look at things. If you don't like to learn something new stick to what you
like. BTW Picasso's work provoqued the very same responses first....
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And B. D. Responds -

What follows is a general comment, as I know nothing of the work of the
photographer in question....

...Calling something inaccessible does NOT say something about the viewer -
it says the artist has failed if his or her mission was to make a public
statement. If the work was meant only for the edification of the artist and
three of his/her best friends, it belongs in a private home, not a public
venue.

This thread reminds me of a beloved high school English teacher who once
made the statement that if a poem's meaning is "hidden," the poem is a
failure. Same thing goes for "inaccessible" works of visual art.
"Inaccessible" is, in this case, a synonym for "crap."

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of christian
becker
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 10:11 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Re: new clothes


>Too much "unaccessible" photography gets hung in galleries.  I suspect
that >the reason for this is that many gallery curators are trained in art
>history and in traditional art forms.  They do not "understand"
>photography.

What is to understand about photography? Anyone has a 'trained' view, this
way or another. Calling someone's work 'inaccessible' says more about the
viewer than the work. Take it or leave it. What these guys are - at least -
trying to do is to break new grounds, discover new sights, change the way we
look at things. If you don't like to learn something new stick to what you
like. BTW Picasso's work provoqued the very same responses first....

- --


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