Now THIS is Art: Giant Tinfoil Ball

Problem is, Alex that you need someone who believes you are an ARTIST worth of being exhibited in some fancy Gallery or Museum.

This is the Ultimate frustration of some of us Unbelievers of Art- We do things daily and we make glorious stuff that everybody laughs or smirks aside.

But if some fancy Artist makes exactly the same junk and it gets put in some fancy place, suddenly it is called ART and it gets this Aura of Holyness and Sacrecy around it - A whole floor of some Art-Museum covered with thousands of old smked fags....? In any other place everyboday just thinks it is Bad dirt. but now .... It Isss Arrrrrt....! Someone letting Farts during a Happening...? Nooo that is not Rrrrude- It Is Arrrrt because that person who does it is an Arrrrtist....!

Glorious Giant Tinfoil Ball...! Yeeey Art...!

What's been overlooked here is that the artwork itself is the photograph - not the sculpture - of the giant tinfoil ball.

As long as talentless artists are worshipped by the tasteless rich, we must endure idiotic aesthetic excrement.

I had a look through the rest of her photos - they're most unimpressive. Technically they're OK, but they don't seem to have any reason to exist.

The art world is so pretentious that they are all afraid to just say, "That's not art." about anything for fear they'll look ignorant to their peers.

Sometimes art isn't the end result, but the process that leads to it.

Wut ju no bout ART?

regarding saving up bubblegum (scroll down):

http://www.designboom.com/portrait/friedman.html

D Bozko & felixthecat

Ditto what you guys said.. *nodnod*

And you just know someone has a bigger and better ball sitting humbly in there apartment.

d bozko - i'd argue that most freely say, think, or feel "that is excruciatingly horrible art," instead of "that is *not* art."

and also, the art world is a lot less pretentious and "afraid to be ignorant" than many think. this recurring mantra i see repeated in neatorama comments insults our collective intelligence.

"and also, the art world is a lot less pretentious and “afraid to be ignorant” than many think. this recurring mantra i see repeated in neatorama comments insults our collective intelligence."

Actually, the repeated pretensions of the art world insults our collective humanity.

If someone calls it art, then it's art.

@felixthecat

There is no such part of collective humanity that is affected by the art world, just the cultural majority it usually speaks out against. If everyone agreed with it, it wouldn't stand out and promote a change in perspective. Would this conversation have existed if it wasn't for the very large ball of tin foil? How do we know what art actually is until we explore what it isn’t?

@ElGaucho

Now THAT, is a gum ball!

Pee Wee is jealous.

@Felixthecat: Yes, what a travesty that someone called something art that you don't like or get. How terrible.

When anything is art, nothing is art.

It's not art. Honest, It's the accumulated tin foil hats of the "artist".

I can't believe that someone scrunched up a bunch of tin foil and actually made money from it ...

uggh

@Cola

I am glad that you agree.

Artists who defecate on stage, artists who empty a garbage can on the floor, artists who hang unpainted canvases, all these are shams. Most people appear to be afraid to point out that the emperor has no clothes.

@Gauldar

Perhaps so. But my cat's hacking up a hairball at a dinner party also elicits conversation.

Maybe if it had been original I would find this "art" slightly less ludicrous. But it isn't. It says nothing new, and is only a display of arrogance and contempt.

I see a pile of vile garbage by the road, I turn away in disgust. Others tack a "for sale" sign upon it and call it art. The garbage man picks up my garbage pile. Pretentious art collectors pick up the artists pile of rubbish, and bask in the worship of their fearful-to-be-not-thought-of-as-hip peers and the confused addled gruntings of the wannabe-hip hoi polloi. And in the end? All the garbage ends up in the same place.

Ridiculous garbage.

That's a poorly designed web site for an "artist". I looked at the other pictures, and they were unremarkable, kind of like the pictures an eight-year-old child given a camera as a gift might take until he/she actually learned how to use a camera.

And the hideous-looking nipples. What was wrong with those? Ick.

I can't imagine anyone feeling compelled to look at those pictures for any reason.

You guys don't understand anything.
When I see this picture all I can think of is "I'm an artist too! yeaah!!"
:D

so bitter! so angry! whats the problem here? are any of you actually affected by this in any way shape or form, other than pooping your pants because you're soooooo aaannggrryy about what art is? who are you to say what art is and art isnt? art is everything all the time. art is nothing ever. it is what it is what it is, and instead of debasing the whole idea why not just say "meh, its not for me" or "nah, i dont like this one". i could get on board with that. i honestly dont enjoy this piece very much, but if i had time to talk to the artist and find her intentions and listen to her process i might come to enjoy it a bit more. just because you dont understand or dont enjoy a piece doesnt mean that art can only be a framed painting on a white wall or a hand crafted sculpture in a european museum. art is what you make of it and most of you are making it into poop, so you shall have poop!

First, I would be more impressed if the ball was actually round. Seeing as it's not, it isn't that great.

Second, what about that guy who covered his friend's apartment in foil. Was that on here I read that. That is more art to me than this. ha ha

"This is the Ultimate frustration of some of us Unbelievers of Art- We do things daily and we make glorious stuff that everybody laughs or smirks aside."

I suppose it takes an artist to look at something so commonplace and see the beauty and meaning in it. It takes an artist to consider something rather than smirk it aside.
Why is this not art? Why are we so quick to discredit it? Because of the material? Do we discredit it because it is trash?
Because you could make it?

Firstly, take the material out of context and look at it. It's a stunning, unique visual in itself.
Think of your connections with such a mundane material. What does it reference? What connections does it find? Ask why.

People are so quick to disregard (and apparently feel anger about) work like this because they feel like they could make the same thing.
But they don't. They unfortunately cant see what there is to see and cast it away.

Why is it so darn important for some humans to make "Art" out of ordinary stuf???

Thát is what I don't get...!

Why not just leave it and appreciate for what it is and nothing more?

I think the whole point of discarded tinfoil is that it can be and perhaps has to be recycled as soon as possible into other stuff we use. To use discarded tinfoil for art could be considered a form of deliberate waste of recources. I don't say that that would be an argument here, but I do think sometimes arguments like that can be more valid than to say that one makes Art.

To me, it feels like lots of people label stuff they put on a pedestal as "Art" as a lame excuse to do things that otherwise never would be accepted by other people. And that is for me what stings in some Art.

...But then on the other hand: Hey if you can get away with it and gain fame, glory and possibly even your bread and butter with it because there are fools who want to buy into your scam, I wish All the more Glory and Succes to you...! 8-)

"Why not just leave it and appreciate for what it is and nothing more?"

So why is it terrible to present it as such in a gallery? How is this a scam? For one thing, not all artwork in a show has a price tag. It's there to be looked at and thought about.
I think your argument is that artists are gaining fame and fortune undeservedly. That they are selling garbage, because it's materiel worth is negligible.

Essentially, Art is not about making money. Its about presenting ideas to the public for contemplation. It is an offering to us of something to think about. It is their idea that they feel strongly enough about to create.
Although the material in this case I think is part of the message, the material doesn't determine the 'worth'.
If someone is willing to pay big bucks for a piece like this they obviously can see and feel something more worthy in it that just a ball of tinfoil. Does that make them a fool?

Quote: Does that make them a fool?

uh huh, yes.

**shrugs**

Here's a more appropriate quote:

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do."
-Benjamin Franklin

Nothing personal and not complaining, that particular sentence just "spoke to me" so I thought I would state my opinion. :)

Perhaps these quotes better suit the giant ball of tin foil:

"A fool and his money are soon parted."
~Thomas Tusser

because ...

"There's a sucker born every minute."
~ Once said by P.T. Barnum, according to American circus legends.

I looked through the pics on the rest of her site and really liked the one of the pink propane tank on the horribly uncomfortable office chair.
As somebody who's had to play nicey-nicey while enduring crappy jobs, while wondering how much more I can take until I spontaneously explode and take half the building with me, I can totally identify with that.

As for that tinfoil ball, maybe if it was made of tinfoil hats wrapped around certain parts of the globe...