tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post6839100960516978077..comments2024-03-28T15:08:55.350-07:00Comments on Art Contrarian: Lacking Skills? - Here are Some Arts for YouDonald Pittengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11307228686847434740noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post-10076164718399137452011-05-21T11:39:34.653-07:002011-05-21T11:39:34.653-07:00David -- I was thinking strictly about skill sets...David -- I was thinking strictly about skill sets needed to perform adequately, and not about the state of development of any given art / performance / whatever activity. But that's an interesting observation regarding new "art forms" -- skill-sets are ill-defined, so entry barriers are low. And of course there's that elitist-democratic continuum, each end of which can be rationalized; the low skills requirement being of the latter and high skill the former.Donald Pittengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11307228686847434740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post-8107209363919494912011-05-21T09:41:48.095-07:002011-05-21T09:41:48.095-07:00Don-- while I am generally sympathetic with your t...Don-- while I am generally sympathetic with your thesis, wouldn't you also agree that there are cycles to this, and that sometimes layers of skill and refinement can accrete so that cultures can become ossified? At those times, deviations that are raw and intuitive and emotional (but unskilled) may help save us. Abstract expressionism or cubism or even rap music may seem crude and unskilled at the outset, and some innovations may quickly die out as a consequence. But others add needed vitality. <br /><br />When you are a neanderthal and an ungainly new creature shows up in the woods, we shouldn't laugh until we have figured out whether it is just another missing link, or it is the cromagnon man destined to succeed us.David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.com