Sunday 28 April 2013

Mona Hatoum

Recently visiting the Tate, I stumbled across this specific photograph by Mona Hatoum:

Mona Hatoum - Performance Still 1985

Concept thinking again it would seem. Again and again my path leads me past this concept of conceptual thinking. The concept here is to conceptualise ideas and thought into concepts that speak and talk. Concepts. 

In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.

This quote by John Suler illustrates exactly what I'm experiencing lately. But to take it further, does that mean images can be ugly but still attract an audience if the concept is right? I think that this is the debate here, ugly versus pretty photographs. Everyone likes pretty (pretty here is aesthetically pleasing) visuals, but is it not so much more important to also find your way to at least appreciate the ugly? 



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