What I like about the end of the year is that the papers usually come up with the summary for the year ending 2007. This one was titled ‘The Year in Ideas’. One of the ideas was titled ‘Art Fatigue’ as seen below. Art to me has always been about finding whats new, and the process is one that transforms, and ‘DocuArt’ belongs to the Historians, or a book which does a much better job documenting. To far ahead and the ‘new’ is invisible. How far ahead can the ‘new’ be so that people can still understand them. siri.
Art fatigue (the times online magazine 29.12.07)
It seems the shock of the new just isn’t shocking any more. The big news about the 2007 Turner Prize was that it wasn’t news at all – and that even Mark Wallinger’s bear film winning failed to achieve the annual tabloid fulminations about the absurdity of modern art. Oh dear, the fun has most definitely leaked away.
Partly, this is down to a general jadedness about all things shocking (Middle English grannies are well-acquainted with wild art these days – they talk of little else in Tunbridge Wells). And partly it’s down to the faster than ever assimilation of cultural trends into the mainstream. Once upon a time, an outrageous artist’s reputation seeped through the fringes before blooming across the pages of the Daily Mail. Collectors bought diligently, reputations were augmented. But today the Turner sets a seal on a respectable back catalogue and vaguely “edgy” reputation, rather than showcasing genuinely fresh, innovative work to curious audiences and collectors.
This year, Wallinger’s State Britain – a re-creation of Brian Haw’s folk art-focused anti-war protest outside the House of Commons – was dutifully, positively reviewed by right-on critics. Of course. But who isn’t anti-war these days? The very fact that artists think this kind of posturing is radical is depressing. If art is supposed to be challenging, how about a pro-war work of art? Go on, surprise us. Tim Teeman