[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, everybody.
So, uh, sometimes we go on vacation,
but The Art Assignment never goes on vacation.
So today, uh, from vacation, we are
going to answer some of your questions.
Let's begin with Korfi who asks, I'm
not going to ask a question.
I'm just going to throw two words out and see
your response-- Bob Ross.
Oh, genius.
Truly a genius.
Total agree.
Love some Bob Ross.
He was so infectiously enthusiastic about painting
and what he was doing.
Gotta love him.
OK.
So I don't know how to say this person's screen name.
So we're just going to put it up there on the screen.
Uh, they ask, how will the public's relationship
with museums change in the next 15 years?
I think museums will have to exist in a certain sense
as they are because their mission is clearly
stated-- to kind of safeguard a particular collection.
And I don't think there's anything quite the same
as being in the same room with the art.
There are some things that you really
have to be there to experience.
And so, I think that's what will keep museums relevant.
I hope.
Ok, Sarah, TripleTManatee asks, what's
one of the earliest works of art you
can remember that inspired you?
So growing up in Birmingham, Alabama,
there was this one artist, Lonnie Holley--
who went by The Sand Man-- who I've actually talked
about it in a previous video.
But his work was really moving for me.
I think at first, I thought, oh, what's this bunch of junk?
'Cause he uses a lot of found materials.
But I was really fascinated by him as a character
and intrigued by him.
And that really stuck with me.
Growing up, there was a show with the Orlando Museum of Art
about Andy Warhol's relationship with Disney World.
And they had like four or five of-of-of Warhol's Mickey Mouse
paintings.
Yeah, those are, like, some of his very worst work.
Well, I--
[SARAH LAUGHS]
First off, you've hurt my feelings.
Secondly, uh, I liked them.
I had a poster of them throughout high school
and middle school.
And I loved it, and I refuse to apologize for my passions.
OK.
So our question for Mihere.
Can something beautiful be considered art
if it doesn't provoke thought or reflection?
I think something we've talked about a lot on The Art
Assignment is how art can do a lot of things.
Like, art can make you marvel at its beauty.
Art can make you uncomfortable.
Art can make you think.
So I think some art's function is
to make you appreciate its beauty.
And, uh, personally, I like art that does something more.
But I would say in defense of merely beautiful art
that there is some value to mere beauty.
Like there's that great. uh, Keat's line-- uh, beauty
is truth and truth beauty.
That's all you know and all you need to know.
I don't know if that's true.
Eh.
But I-I like it.
I don't.
Trey asks, what's your response to people
who say, I could have done that about artists,
like for instance, Felix Gonzalez-Torres?
My first answer would be, you probably couldn't do it.
Even though it looks easy, it often is not.
One time I was in a gallery with Sarah,
and we were looking at one of those,
like, monochromatic paintings.
And I was like, it's very hard to look at this
and not just think that I could have done it.
And Sarah turned to me and said, but you didn't do it.
Sondalein asks, have you ever teared up
looking at a piece of art?
Yeah, a few times it has.
I mean, Alfredo Jaar's work on the Rwandan genocide
has made me cry.
Uh, his descriptions of photos-- without actually showing
the photos-- are extremely powerful.
Yeah, I cry a lot when I look at art.
But I also cry a lot generally.
Every time I go to Park of the Laments
at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I cry.
But I also, uh, cry from-- uh, I don't
know-- like Frances Alys' video about the moving of a mountain.
Oh, yeah.
That's a good one.
Oh, boy.
That got to me.
All right, Sarah, M asks, as a young artist,
I often feel like I need to push boundaries and get out
of the box in order to be considered merely creative.
But is there some value in doing the kind of art that you like
and just painting flowers because it's enjoyable?
Real talk here.
I'm kind of afraid that's not enough.
I think you do you have to push yourself.
Um, if you sort of go through a lot of different styles,
and try a lot of different things,
and then land on painting flowers--
I think that that's fine.
And there can be a good and interesting way
of painting flowers.
But, um, to really make good art,
I think you do have to push yourself.
You have to ask yours-- yourself questions.
And I think that's just the way to--
Laura asks, do you think craftsmanship still plays
a role in contemporary art?
And-and what is the difference between, kind of,
arts and crafts?
I don't really think there's a line between art and craft.
I think the definition of art has
expanded to include what used to be called craft.
Intensified asks one of the most interesting questions
of this historical moment.
A lot of good art seems to be made by people
who are not good people.
To what extent can we separate the art from the artist?
I think it's tough.
I think there are a lot of artists
who are not great people.
Uh, and in the past, you may have just not
known very much about them, so more could be forgiven.
Yeah, exactly.
I think that, like, we live in a world of creators.
And we know the creators, and so we can't fully
separate creators from creation the way
that we used to be able to.
And I'm not sure that's a entirely a bad change.
Holding creators to a basic human standard
is maybe not such a bad idea.
Sarah asks, how do you draw faces?
You draw an oval, and then you draw a line
down the center and the middle.
OK?
And where that middle line is-- the middle horizontal line--
that's where the eyes are.
So it starts lower down than you'd think.
So there's a lot of head that's, um, between.
[LAUGHS]
Sorry.
Am I confusing you?
I'm just trying to act out what you're saying.
I think it's very interesting.
There's an astonishing amount of head on the top
or on the bottom?
A new answer-- google it.
[JOHN LAUGHS]
Thank you, guys, for-- as always-- asking
excellent questions.
Yeah.
I'm sorry we didn't get to more of them.
But, uh, now we have to go back to, uh, vacating.
So your homework this week is to do more art assignments,
and we'll see you with a brand new assignment next week.
Bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Laura asks, do you think craftsmanship-- bird,
you are too loud!
Bird!
[SARAH LAUGHS]
Bird!
Go away.
I will shoot you, bird.
[SARAH LAUGHS]
There you go.
I-- I scared him.