Is this art?

Apparently, I've had ass on my mind the past several posts. Last Friday night, I went to this thing at the Honolulu Academy of Arts called Art After Dark. I almost shit when I heard from my friend Mike that Honolulu actually was hosting something art-like for anyone under the age of well…the Jurassic period.

They hosted this “social” for people in their 20s – early 40s that also secondly served as a meat market. Unfortunately, once you took out the men who were there with a woman and those who were obviously gay, the pickings were slim, but that’s okay because I was totally enjoying myself as third wheel to Mike and Keri (Ana and Denise were…where else?… shopping and met up with us for dinner afterward).

It was interesting perusing the gallery that was filled with Asian and European art, particularly with a beer that seemed to “hit” me rather quickly. We all decided we weren’t huge fans of the Asian art, so we migrated toward the German exhibit, the Rice exhibit (showing farming of rice which was also boring), and the typical Europeans that most of you are familiar with (like Picasso, Monet, etc.).

Although I like to look at art, I’ve never really considered myself a connoisseur. I don’t always “get” it, particularly where you see a painting with just rectangles and squares or squiggly lines. I know that art is subjective, but it was kind of cool to walk around with Mike (who loves to paint) and hear why certain pieces/artists were considered pioneers, and that my opinions on the pieces were valid. He told me that someone like Picasso was a master painter at the age of seven, but only when he reverted back to what he considered more “juvenile” forms of shapes/lines, did he become famous.

However, it reminded me of this debate that I remember having about the infamous photographer, Robert Maplethorpe, who caused some controversy with a picture of a crucifix being dipped in urine. It was a particularly brutal debate in one of my classes of the idea of freedom of speech versus being shocking and defaming for the purpose of getting some publicity. Is there ever a line to draw on art – or more importantly – is there a true definition of what can be called “art?”

This picture is also a Maplethorpe. Is that “art” to anyone? While there were some beauties of flowers and even tasteful ones of the human body, there was also one of a woman with a scorpion resting in her bush. Yeah, that one.

While I do support the First Amendment, I have a hard time respecting people that do things just to shock people because I think that’s something just anyone could do. To me, it takes much more talent to please than to offend. But, maybe that’s just me?