-EJ

Upon leaving that group behind I challenged them to consider that maybe one of the reasons that fiber is not so widely accepted in the art world is there is a glaring lack of critical writing on the subject. The result of that challenge was the creation of a new effort by a group of committed artists to try to seek out and create such writing and to correct this situation. You can see our beginning effort blog here:

http://artquiltreviews.wordpress.com/

you can read about how this came about on my blog here:

http://blog.lisacall.com/2006/08/critical-reviews-of-art-quilts.html

We have a lot to learn and a long way to go but it is a start.

I believe a dialog is necessary but I also think there is a time and place for that.

I came to A&P as an individual artist not as a spokesperson for all decorative art.

I am not interested in having the grand discussion of can decorative art be on the same level as fine art. I have lived my life as a minority and have had to fight to be accepted every step along the way - life as a female computer scientist is not easy. But I learned that the fastest way to gain acceptance is to not defend my rights and gender but to instead demonstrate my abilities as an individual.

I believe the same model will serve me well in the art world. I’m not looking to prove that the entire art quilt movement is up to the levels of fine art. I am looking to just make my art and show it - my main concern is to me as an individual. I have changed more than one person’s mind about the ‘can a quilt be art question’ by demonstration and so that is the route I will continue to take.

If you want dialog then I would be happy to have a dialog with you about my specific art. I’d recommend you read my blog and participate - that is where that dialog exists.

And with that I am done with this conversation. I have done my best to keep this civil but I believe written word is much too easy to misunderstand and suspect that is happening on both sides and think this isn’t going to go anywhere else constructive at this point.

Yes, I do have some biases against decorative art, probably as do most people, educated or not, who have come under the sway of so-called Western culture. Most significantly, for this argument, I have a bias against work that seems to straddle the line between the decorative and the “fine”. It can be disorienting to see things that challenge your ideas about categories. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. Its a good thing, but it takes time, effort and (yes, I know, I’m repetitive) dialouge.

Although these are slippery and perhaps artificial categories, I don’t believe they are wholly arbitrary. Paintings often do things we rarely expect of couches and wallpaper. Spending an hour looking at a drawing can be fascinating; spending an hour with a lamp rarely is. Decorative art tends to sink into the background, which is part of its important function. This is a way of saying that my bias has some legitimate basis. Of course, you’re welcome to argue that this is wrongheaded.

Lisa, you have described yourself as a a fine-art quilter with non-traditional concerns. These and other claims seem to indicate that you in fact share my anti-decorative bias, at least to some extent. Then again, it may be a case of “separate but equal”, although that does soiund suspicious. Or perhaps ‘bias’ means something stronger to you than it does to me.

While my bias is not purely logical (I’m not sure that I can make sense of the idea of a purely logical, value-free bias), your characterization of my beliefs as “religious” is way off the mark. A sceptical, blasphemous believer I would be.

Yet again, I would like to stress my open-mindedness, as demonstrated on my blog (where I actually discuss specific works of art). I think the fact that I’m willing to admit to my biases and grapple with them publicly in such a tortured manner is further evidence of this.

Conversely, your own claims of Zen-like evenmindedness strike me as disingenuous. You claim not have biases. I don’t believe you, because I’ve never met anybody like that.

Generally speaking, you’ve greatly exagerated my (yes, admitted) biases and limitations of taste. I resent that.

Perhaps nothing I’ve said here is hitting its mark. Let me conclude by simply saying that I like most of what I’ve seen your work, Lisa, and hope you can overcome the ignorance of those whose prejudices are far more stronger and inflexible than mine.

Respectfully,
Arthur

Please go on, and please continue later in a post as well. You might also want to check out Arthur’s parallel adventures on Paul Butzi’s blog.

My point is that you want me to justify my art and have a dialog - what kind of dialog? You already have said that you feel decorative arts are a second class citizen in your mind. You’ve seen and contemplated many such items and you know plenty about the history of art and the theories. What exactly do you think that I can say that will change your mind? I have nothing new to say that you don’t already know. Your objections to quilts and decorative art aren’t about logic and so a logical argument isn’t going to sway you. I think your objections are equivalent to a religious conviction, and that is not something I can’t argue.

I do think if you want a dialog then that dialog needs to be based on you justify your bias. Because in my mind all you have said is “everyone has biases and this is mine”. Well no, I don’t view art that way. Sure there is some art I enjoy more than others but I don’t dismiss entire categories of art as being inferior. I came from a world where decorative arts were the arts and as I got older I began adding more traditional artforms into my vocabulary of art. But so far I have yet to find something that I consider less worthy of being art. I find all of it fascinating and worthy of contemplation on an equal level. I can’t justify your bias by admitting to my own because it’s just not there.

You admit that in theory everything can be art. Plenty of people have no problems accepting quilts as fine art so I’ll take it as a given there is no issue with them living up to some standard.

So there is something about your values, choices, etc that is not allowing you to accept this in practice. I see that a failing on your part to which you need to justify. Not a failing on the side of the art that I need to justify. If you were new to art and had no context for this conversation that would be one thing but you clearly well educated in these arguments.

So the dialog I’d be interested in is you justifying why you feel it’s okay categorize decorative arts as inferior to “fine art”. Why is it okay for you to continue to hold this belief? How do you justify this? Because a lot of other people think the same thing? Because I won’t try to convince you otherwise? What is it you are needing so you can change your mind?

Sorry Karl - I think there is a lot of context in this thread so I’m leaving the discussion here. Maybe we can summarize later in a longer article?