My gf (and who I assume is one of the only ones who reads this blog) might have some objection to this, but I've never been a big fan of art museums.
Art exists in many forms, from a small child drawing a loving family picture for their parents or stacking up blocks at the playground in an artistic style, or even playing baseball and flashing some sort of raw skill. I like different types of art, including those depicted in movies and manga animation (a lot of people like those!), and even like the art shown on Magic the Gathering cards and dodgeball T-shirts (the designs are pretty cool!) But I'm not that big of a fan of going around an art gallery and just glancing at the various pieces of art. Here's some things that irk me:
1.) The gallery employees seem REALLY bored all the time. The employees (or ushers, or whatever the people who stand by the art on guard are called) need to be there to prevent people from touching the art and damaging the art (or worse, steal the art) but that's gotta be one of the toughest jobs in the world. Sure the first day might be fun checking out one's own area and maybe adapting to one's room as one's own, but after the crisp new feeling goes away, it'd just seem like torture spending the way without being able to use one's Iphone (might have been bearable back in the day, now in the smartphone age really seems like hell) and being in the atmosphere of an art museum where silence is golden. I almost felt bad for some of the employees and was tempted to strike up a conversation just to break them from their boredom. How does one get that job, by the way? The employees seemed somewhat well educated, or were young enough to be students. Art students who need a part-time job to pay the bills? Seems like a tough life.
2.) Abstract art- I think I've ranted about this before, but abstract art only serves to confuse me, where there is a painting titled "Woman with a guitar" but I don't see a woman or even a guitar. Call me dull or dense but I just have never been able to grasp "true art" I guess. I also don't get why 5 Campbell soup cans lined up next to each other (black bean, corn, and my favorite, tomato) is considered art. Sorry, Andy Warhol fans.
3.) Lot of portraits and self-portraits. A lot of painters seem to be pretty narcissistic, painting portraits of themselves and showing themselves in a pretty good light (See: Rembrandt). My question is, does it really take that much artistic ability to take a portrait of someone? I've seen artists in the park draw caricatures of their subjects that show more creativity than some of those portraits. Sure they look really nice, but shouldn't any artist worth their salt be able to draw a person in detail?
4.) bad reception in the art gallery (probably on purpose) forces you to concentrate on viewing the art.
5.) What I've always wondered- how long is a casual art viewer supposed to "view the art?" I see a painting, I absorb for about 5 seconds, see all the various facets if there are multiple subjects, figure out what it's about, and I move on. Sometimes if I'm feeling generous I read the captions which to be fair gives some good info sometimes (who knew Degas was really into washerwomen and ballet dancers?) but after that I'm on to the next one. Is there some sort of deep meaning I'm supposed to be looking for? Trying to figure out the warm and dark hues of the color formation?
6.) What I do like about art museums: (Yay!) I like that I can walk hand-in-hand with my girlfriend around and enjoy the visual images as well as the feeling of bonding and romance while doing so. It's a nice pace, like we're doing it together, which allows me to stay for the activity a lot longer than if I was going to an art museum alone (it's like a sprint). I like that she likes art (very cheesy I know but I appreciate her!) I also like the gardens and the nice atmosphere of art museums: they have nice, clean buildings with clean restrooms, usually a pound, fountain, or statues outside, and there's usually some sort of garden to give the outdoor feel as well. Not a bad consolation prize even if I can't tell Monet from Manet.
All in all, I appreciate wealthy investors like J. Paul Getty and Norton Simon in LA (check out their art museums!) who donated their money and their art so that others could appreciate art, but to borrow a Chinese proverb, it's like playing piano to a bull to me (it's lost on me). Now on to watching the "new Guiness World record for human mattress dominoes" on facebook.
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