No accounting for taste?

[missroserose]

So, theoretically speaking...

Let's say you're an early-middle-aged woman on vacation, and you come across this art gallery. Light, airy, filled with gorgeous, colorful, elegant works of art. The pieces are beautifully arranged and lit, and there's lovely music filtering down. Everything about the place says "Stop and stay a while, admire the art, relax and enjoy yourself."

And the first question out of your mouth is, "How much is that rabbit in the window? I want something to bring home to Texas."

The painted-wood Easter rabbit.

The chintziest, kitschiest, cheesiest, most mass-produced thing in the gallery.

It's not even for sale; it's a decoration, probably something the owner picked up at Goodwill. And, of course, a mass-produced cutesy holiday decoration is so representative of Bisbee's vibrant art culture. But you love it enough to haggle for it excitedly, and eventually plonk down $30 for it, not even giving the rest of the gallery more than a cursory glance.

Have your tastes just fossilized around age 14? Are you the sort of person who keeps those tourist traps filled with kitschy artwork and figurines in business? How do you get to be past 30 without developing any appreciation whatsoever for art?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she found something she liked, and I'm glad she's pleased with her purchase. It's just the choice of object combined with the sheer singlemindedness and effusive joy that's left me sort of...dumbfounded. Seriously, what gives?

Comments

[marialuminous.livejournal.com]

This story is hilarious. Yeah, people are like that sometimes... no accounting for taste.

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

"home to Texas."

I think I found the cause, ma'am. Not sure what to do about it though.

Yes, you can imagine me saying that with a drawl. And yes, I may be biased.

Some people are just... Like That. Their idea of "beautiful" revolves around bright colors in bold delineated patterns with not a lot of subtlety (perhaps they consider that "folksy" which is a concept that seems to unduly excite many people visiting small towns who have yet not spent much time in small towns). Some people also just like small things - something I noted when working in the galleries is that the chance of a sale goes up dramatically when someone has tactile contact with a piece. Some people have a reflexive urge to collect things from their destinations (one of the reasons photography is so popular, despite the lack of doing justice to the subject matter). Maybe she's just broke.

Regardless, you did what you were there to do and you get to tell your boss that you turned a profit on the window dressing, could she please pick up more. :)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

People's reactions and the power of any work are largely comprised of the person's background and experiences and how the work evokes those. Of course, great populist art tries to find touchstones that are expressive and powerful for lots of people. However, everyone's experiences will always be unique and there will be niches and pockets that are specific to them. The item in question may have evoked something in their past that has great meaning to them. It's no lesser or even different of a mode or value of appreciation than appreciation for any other work, despite not being shared by others. If the thing speaks to them, it speaks to them, and there's probably a legitimate reason why.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in literature criticism there's a concept called "intertextuality" that's basically that idea as applied to, well, text - any two people can read the exact same text and take away radically different impressions based on their individual histories, experiences, values, and the general context of their lives. I know art works the same way, and I know there are people who just absolutely love that kind of mass-produced kitsch (oddly enough, all the ones I've met have been Catholic, though I don't know if there's any greater correlation than my own experience). I guess it's just that that set of experiences is so completely foreign to mine that it's kind of hard to identify with them, especially with all of eight whole minutes of interaction to go on. :)