Now thats what I call Art... 2011!

Finishing the year with the art of Cezanne and an opera by Engelbert Humperdinck in my mind, there are four issues which I wish to explore further in the Arts next year. These apply more to the visual arts but cover other areas too.

An example of Cezanne's chiseled and rustic depictions of farmers in rural France.

- The 'flatness' of art: How modern media can flatten our perspective and why new technology means we see traditional artistic forms such as painting as 'lacking' life and resonance. We want 3-D, not two dimensions. And how about the fourth dimension of time, how 'flat' or linear is time in our perceptions?
- Commerciality: Why does something become so valuable? Does everything Charles Saatchi and Damien Hirst touch turn to gold? And would a painting in the Renaissance period be any different? It is creating value by giving life and society meaning - we are essentially marketing ourselves.
- Meritocracy v historicity: How to reconcile the 'elite' nature of more classical forms of art with art which is free, democratic and universal. Is there such a thing as meritocracy in art at all? Or perhaps how we assert our identity is more important than thinking of ourselves as an 'equal' cog of society.
- Patience: the impermanence of today's art contrasts with the timeless and enduring power of other arts which took time, skill and perseverance.

'Trans-media Video Artist': Nicolas Provost

See relevant links:
Nicolas Provost at the Haunch of Venison
Criterion.com - For the more sophisticated film lover