Contemporary art, Germans, and too Much Time To Think...

Post V

Today I had what I would describe as my first contemporary art ‘experience’. I am well aware that contemporary art is all about ‘experiences’, and when it’s not it errs on the side of self-mockery. But until today I have never really bought in to experiential art, in the contemporary sense anyway. There is an art instillation on the island which is indescribable. You are lead in to a pitch black room and sat down. You are told you will start to see some lights once your eyes adjust to the dark. You sit there, not knowing what to expect, when out of no-where and at no identifiable time, ghostly shadows start dancing in front of your eyes. You are not quite sure if it is the art, or if you are producing the images yourself in the struggle to adjust to the sheer darkness. They grow in intensity and become almost abrasive in their intrusion in to your mind. Then the German twats next to you start talking. Experience over. You remember you are just in a room. The art loses its force and you realise that you are actually sitting inside a tourist attraction, just like a ghost house at a fair.

I wanted to stave off talking about this topic, at least for a little while, but I can’t really help it. I saw a lot of the contemporary art that is dotted around, and at each I was filled with mixed emotions. Compared to the first time that I walked up to the ‘art shrine’ – when I was completely alone in the middle of a typhoon, the visit today was dreadful. The ‘crypt’ ( I don’t really know what to call it, but it was a space under the shrine) was open to the public, and the queue was long. It was like a line for a ride at Disney land. The French, eager to see everything, took photos of the shrine from their position in the queue, so as to maximise art consumption. People came, queued, and left. They came for the attraction, and once that need was satisfied, they left. Not for a minute did they reflect on the nature of the piece.

Now I definitely do not want to defend contemporary art. But the shrine is something that is actually quite beautiful. Done in the old Japanese style, with an enchanting walk up a Studio-Ghibli-esque staircase to get you there. And yet, no one cared. They had paid for their ticket, and were going to get the full value of the fare by making sure they saw everything. When I was standing in the queue, I couldn’t help but think that despite the fact that the art has done a great deal for the island, regenerating derelict areas and so on, it nonetheless does not feel like art to me. They are designed as attraction pieces, and the more you look at them, the more they begin to feel like the false backdrops you get at a movie set. They present themselves as art, but are in fact the opposite. There could be any other tourist gimmick in their place. They are meticulously planned so that they maximise intrigue, but they forgo their status as art in the process.

Despite all of that 'heavy thinking', I do have to confess that although I know all of this, I am still a sucker for it! I walked around and lapped it up just like everyone did. And you know what, it was fun. I will go back many times in the future, and I hope next time I can silence the little cynic in my head – and the German's with no manners!