Reading Summary and Response

Summary:

Successful art relies upon an individual standard of excellence. Validation is internal. The text explores professional and genuine art. The three major sections of the text discuss politics, kinship, and craft.

Jeff Koons marketed himself as a public figure. Koons puts off the persona of acting like an artist rather than an audacious figure. He seems to be interested in identity politics through materialism and sexuality.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist. He is described as rude and is very critical of China and academia. This seems to be born out of his extreme value for human rights and love to shock.

Koons’ studio life is based around community as he says he does not want to be placed in a room all day. However his studio is quiet and industrious. Koons produces shows, not just art. He again talks about his fascination with persona.

Weiwei is considered much more raw in his personality. This seems to be as result of his negative association and experience with government. He describes a piece in which he made 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds, and he describes his father who was a poet. Ai explains that even though he saw his father endure so much hardship for being an artist, he still felt like he must follow in his footsteps to capture the same genuine sense he saw in his father.

Response:

I am always interested to hear the philosophy and motivation of other artists as it shapes the way I view my own art practice. I think the closing paragraph of this text was the most enlightening for me, when Ai Weiwei expresses love for art because of its genuine nature. I think this furthers my developing opinion that art can be nothing if it is not genuine.