More than 3 Seconds: Art or Not? #1

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Art or Not? #1

This is the first in what hopefully becomes a series of posts titled Art or Not. I am going to present a controversial artist/topic/exhibition/etc. You get to decide if it is art or not. Share your thoughts, please.

Today's Topic: Shepard Fairey
He gained national attention during Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, creating a poster that even garnered praise from Obama himself. Since then he has been criticized for not having artistic talent, but, maybe worse, for being a plagiarist. The "Hope" Obama poster was made from a photograph owned by the Associated Press, and which is the artistic work of photographer Mannie Garcia taken in 2006. At the start of the controversy the AP director of media relations announced that the "AP has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission." Without the AP's permission the photograph became an icon worldwide, posters were selling on Ebay for upwards of $500, and Shepard Fairey became famous. So the AP sued. The AP claims infringement on its copyright and wants "payment for the use of the photo and any money he makes from it." The New York Times explains further. Fairey replied with a lawsuit of his own, claiming that the AP photo was only the starting point for his art and that he went on to create a "stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically difference message." (For more on Fairey's artisic point of view see his website obeygiant.com)

Here are the two images side by side. What do you think?

Under such intense scrutiny, Fairey's entire artistic career has come under attack. He has also had exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, the Warhol Museum, the Stolen Space Gallery in London, and the Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati. So did plagiarism gain him unearned fame beyond his wildest dreams? Or is the AP unjustly using its might on a borderline case of fair use art and First Amendment rights?

Listen to some of the experts argue:

What do you think?

p.s. In the name of fair attribution, I got the title of this post from the video and the images from here.

1 comment:

AitaraNovember 27, 2010 at 9:30 PM
While I agree that the painting Fairey did looks a bit like the AP photo of President Obama, so do a whole lot of other pictures. If it had been a photo of him holding a specific item, etc and the painting had the same object in the same position, then fine, claim plagiarism. But really...how different does the AP expect Fairey make the President work?!
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Glossary of Art Terms

Abstract: not realistic, though often based on an actual subject.

Abstract Concept: an idea that does not take a visible form, such as justice, truth.

Allegorical: in a work of art, an image (or images) that illustrates an abstract concept, idea or story, often suggesting deeper meaning.

Asymmetrical: different on either side of a central axis

Balance: if you draw an imaginary line down the middle of a composition, symmetrical balance is when the right side of the artwork is the same as the left side; in asymmetrical balance the sides are different.

Classical: originating in ancient Greece or Rome

Composition: the manner in which the artist presents the subject or subjects in a composition.

Contemporary Art: generally defined as art produced during the second half of the 20th century, 1950-2000 AD.

Cool Colors: colors that recede (appear to go away from us), such as blue, green and violet.

Design: the organization of line, form, color, value, texture and space in an eye-pleasing arrangement; artists use repetition, emphasis, unity, proportion and/or contrast to organize their art works.

Element: artistic design considerations such as color, line, texture, shape or form and space.

Expressionism: the artist uses exaggeration of form and facial or body gestures to appeal directly to the beholder’s emotional response – love, hate, fear, patriotism, religion.

Geometric: any art or style primarily using the basic shapes – rectangles, squares, circles, triangles; often in a pattern.

High Key: an artwork that uses primarily bright colors and tints.

Horizon Line: the distant view where sky meets water or land at the artist’s eye level.

Impressionism: an outdoor painting technique that shows the changing effects of light and color; Europe and America 1850 – 1900.

Landscape: a scenery painting; also includes the cityscape or seascape.

Low Key: an artwork that uses primarily dark colors and shades.

Medium: the material that is used in an artwork; i.e. watercolor, oil, marble, bronze; plural media.

Motif: a main element, idea or feature, specifically in art, literature or music; a repeated figure in a design.

Narrative Art: an artwork that tells a story.

Pattern: an overall design that repeats the same lines or shapes to cover a surface.

Perspective: a formal method of creating a three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional surface. There are three kinds: visual perspective – making distant objects smaller; aerial

or atmospheric – colors in the distance are hazier or bluer; linear perspective – having lines converge to meet at a single point on the horizon.

Print: a work of art, usually on paper, created from a “plate” that has been transformed through a technique such as engraving, etching or woodcut and then inked and the image

is transferred to paper.

Proportion: the pleasing relationship of all parts to each other and the whole of the design

Realism: a style of artwork in which we can clearly identify the person, place or thing; an artist’s attempt to show a subject as accurately as possible.

Secondary Colors: green, purple and orange; the colors obtained by mixing the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

Sculpture: the art of carving wood, chiseling stone, casting and welding metal, modeling clay or wax, or assembling these materials into three-dimensional representations, such as

statues, figures, forms, etc.

Secular: having to do with the temporal (worldly), not the spiritual or religious.

Shade: any color mixed with black; it makes the color darker.

Symbol: something that stands for or represents another thing; especially an object to represent something abstract, as a dove represents peace.

Tint: any color mixed with white; it makes the color lighter.

Value: a principle, standard or quality considered worthwhile or desirable; common values are compassion, freedom, honesty, justice, peace, respect, responsibility, tolerance.

Variety: the differences in scale, surface, line, value and shape that give interest to a composition.

Visual Arts: a broad category that includes the traditional fine arts such as drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture; communication and design arts such as film, television, graphics, and product design; architecture and environmental arts such as urban, building, interior and landscape design; folk arts; and other works of art such as ceramics, fibers, jewelry, works in wood, paper and other materials.

Warm Colors: colors that advance, such as red, red-orange, orange and yellow.

For more.