11 Dec 08 The postmodern dilema
shoes on a wire
The ubiquitous pair of trainers thrown over a telephone wire has become a very common suburban sight. To see a quite stylish pair of high heels hanging in the same manner makes a refreshing change. At first glance, this might seem like a random act, but of course, it’s not. Even to get a pair of trainers to hang from a phone wire would surely take several throws. To get this pair of ladies shoes to hang from a wire took at least a little consideration. They first had to be tied together and then carefully flung into position.
The question for me is; did the perpetrator consider this to be an act of ‘art making’? If they just meant it as a random act of mischief, is it still art? Perhaps no. If someone else (like me) considers it to be art, photographs it, presents it, does it then become art? Perhaps yes.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still fall? (Can anyone be so egotistical they imagine things don’t happen if they don’t happen to be there?). What is the sound of one hand clapping? Swish swish swish.
Earlier modern artists (such as Marcel Duchamp) proved that art can be about anything. ‘Postmodern’ artists continue to make art which is about nothing, which understandably alienates a great many people. Perhaps art does not have to be the domain of an exclusive elite if the man in the street can make art by simply throwing a pair of shoes over a wire.
Tags: marcel duchamp, post modernism, postmodern dilema, shoes on a wire
Maybe you need to give the classic definition of art. Just beacause you think it’s art, doesn’t mean someone else does!
I think they are a pair of 2000.00 shoes thrown over a wire by a pissed off wife!
I’m not sure there still is a classic definition of art. Marcel Duchamp exhibted a toilet in 1917 (entitled Fountain). This is now regarded as a major landmark in 20th century art. Reproductions of this work are now found in major museums around the world. Duchamp described his intent with the piece was to “shift the focus of art from physical craft to intellectual interpretation”. ‘Found objects’ are a very important and influential part of Duchamp’s art. The point is, if you present something as ‘art’, then it is. The problem is, if you exhibit a toilet, the average person will think it’s crap (even if it’s worth millions).
If those shoes cost $2000 that wife must have been really pissed off. Maybe hubby’s girlfriend left her shoes under the bed…
“Maybe hubby’s girlfriend left her shoes under the bed…”
My thoughts exactly!
What is your “”intellectual interpretation” of “Fountain?”
I’m not sure if my interpretation of Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ is likely to be all tha intellectual…
The Dada movement was an act of rebellion against art that had become academic, conservative and dull. It allowed a great deal more freedom by widening the definition of what art is. On the other hand, it opened up the flood gates to any dufus hack wanting to call themselves an artist to stick a few matchboxes together and auction it for millions at Christies.
There’s a good article on Duchamp’s fountain on Wikipedia: click here
One thing shoes over a wire says to others is that drugs can be purchased in that area. At least here in the states that is what they can mean.
castocreations’s last blog post..Unintended Consequences
That’s a very interesting piece of information; I didn’t know that. I’m just wondering if a pair of laidies’ shoes over a wire means something different again; a different type of drug or some other service on offer?
I suspect it’s not the shoes, or the lines, that are the art, but the photograph. If you don’t want to encourage it, don’t take the photo…
marion barnett’s last blog post..WARNING!
I don’t think an artist becomes responsible for something by recording it, nor does it necessarily encourage. Nevertheless, I think your assessment is correct. However, if an professed artist was responsible for the shoes, few would question it as art and the photo would be plagiarism.
[...] Feb 10 Shoes on a Wire: Love is the Drug? // In a previous post entitled ‘The postmodern dilema‘ I posted a similar photo of some high heel shoes hanging from power lines. In the article [...]
gucci and prada also makes beautifully styled ladies shoes but are expensive ;”,