Streams of Thoughts 5: What is Classic

I have been working in the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery in Chicago as an intern for more than a month now. 

Since I started working in the gallery I began to ponder seriously about modern art and its value. I began to ask myself a question: What is classic?

Two weeks ago my host family parents visited me in Chicago. During the brief tour I gave them in the gallery, I showed them a huge abstract piece on the wall which is worth at least a quarter of a million. “If they expose the painting under those spotlight, the painting is gonna be damaged, right?” My host family dad asked; then he answered himself, “well, maybe they never intended to keep the painting for centuries.”

My father’s boss has several modern Chinese paintings that are supposed to be worth ten, twenty thousand Yuan; he went to an auction in Spring trying to sell them but ended up bring them all back. “There were these modern black ink paintings that started with bottom prices of millions of Yuan but no one wants to buy them. Instead some of the old masterpieces were quite popular.” He told my father afterwards.

It seems the trends in the art markets in China and the States are similar: some modern abstract paintings have ridiculously high prices and no market.

It helps us to decipher the reasons behind this interesting phenomenon if we look at the past two centuries of art history. After the camera was invented in 19^th Century, art lost its important function of recording. Since the Impressionism, artists have emphasized more and more subjectivity and linked art with personal experiences and feelings. Nowadays if you read abstract artists’ statement, you are most likely to find a sentence such as, “reflect the artist’s personal struggles and generate different reactions with each individual.”

This reminds me of those reading tests I had in Chinese elementary school. A typical question would be, “why does the author say that the curtain is blue?” And the teacher would expect you to write, “the curtain is blue because it reflects the author’s gloomy mood.” Once in a while “an author of justice” will step out and defend the poor elementary school kids, “The curtain is blue because the curtain in my room IS blue.” Of course when you give people a blank paper they would fill this paper with their own crazy imagination. The gesture of handing over a blank paper may be philosophical, but does the paper itself worth millions of dollars? It seems now that a good abstract artist should be a good writer first.

A classic touches human spirit without deliberate explanation. Everyone who reads Shakespeare’s plays knows their power. Everyone who sees Michelangelo’s wall paintings in the Sistine Chapel understands their beauty. We find ourselves small and powerless in the mere present of giants.

A classic is non-reproducible. After the Industrial Revolution and the invention of assembly line, massive production has permeated every aspect of our life, including art. Daniel Buren put up colorful stripes in over 130 subway stations in Paris just to catch the headline of the newspaper and claimed it as art; it’s not art. Or at least it’s a form of art which should be called “entertainment” or “pattern design”. These are patterns that anyone can easily produce. Massive production can never be classic.

A classic creates awe instead of noisy cheers. It generates a sense of holiness and never shows off. Masterpieces never lower themselves to try to please the audience. They always possess a sense of calmness, grace and confidence. Marilyn Monroe is regarded as one of the sexiest actress of all time yet she was wearing a white dress and not showing any body parts excessively when she took everyone’s breath away. The difference between the countless pop singers now and Michael Jackson is that, while singers like Usher and Rihanna bring cheers and screams from the teenager crowd with their shocking lyrics, Michael Jackson also wrote songs such as Heal the World and Man in the Mirror to make the world silent with awe.  

A classic lasts or reappears over time. Apple Company has been using the Unibody design for Mac since 2008. The appearance of MacBook Pro hasn’t been changed for almost 4 years. I love a quote from the chief designer of Mac, Jonathan Ive, “It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better.” When we are celebrating on the uniqueness, the difference of each one of us, why don’t we ask ourselves this question, “how much of my uniqueness makes me a better person?”

 

Art is human creation therefore it reflects the spirit of the current society. While I recognize that it takes time for true masterpieces to develop and be recognized and there are definitely masters in our generation, the current society is too unsettled and noisy for great art to be produced. Everything is busy growing and developing. We don’t have patience. Just like communication, the traditional face-to-face conversations touch us and bond us more than the cold, simple chatting on Facebook because we take time to organize our thoughts, to study the subtle gestures, and to look into each other’s eyes. True masterpieces require the audience to sit down, to settle, to feel and think.

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a long time and I’m glad that I have the chance to organize my thoughts and took the last several days to compose this article. This is one of the most difficult articles I’ve ever written, and I hope it triggers some thoughts from you too.

Above are just my current thoughts on the modern art and classics. Art is a huge concept and I still have  much to learn.

I'm going back to China this Sunday. Since this blog site is blocked in China, I won't be able to post new articles. I will return to the States at the end of September, and I hope you all enjoy the beautiful summer!