Matta-Clark is one of my favorite artists of the 20th century. Splitting, Conical Intersect, and Office Baroque, among other pieces, are clever and thought-provoking, even if you think most modern art is/was trash. https://whitney.org/artists/3592
I think it’s hard to “get” modern art with no context. I think you can start by asking yourself: “what am I looking at?”.. and just reply yourself .. out loud .. in your mind… however .. then .. explore what you feel .. what it reminds you of … etc. It’s also sometimes useful to see the progression of that specific artist.. if it’s a famous artists they tend to have a “style” .. you notice that in a way they are trying to do the same thing over and over .. perfecting something throughout the years so it sometimes helps to see their early work. I can recommend the book “what are you looking at?” By Will Gompertz.
Having said that… no need to feel bad about “not getting” some work of art .. sometimes it’s quite literally impossible to “get” an artwork if you don’t know certain things .. kind of like not understanding a word because it’s in a different language.
Matta-Clark is one of my favorite artists of the 20th century. Splitting, Conical Intersect, and Office Baroque, among other pieces, are clever and thought-provoking, even if you think most modern art is/was trash. https://whitney.org/artists/3592
I want to like modern art, but I never get it.
Like splitting; while the line is neat, it just looks like a falling apart house. Conical intersect is a big hole in a building.
What am I missing? I genuinely want to get it.
I think it’s hard to “get” modern art with no context. I think you can start by asking yourself: “what am I looking at?”.. and just reply yourself .. out loud .. in your mind… however .. then .. explore what you feel .. what it reminds you of … etc. It’s also sometimes useful to see the progression of that specific artist.. if it’s a famous artists they tend to have a “style” .. you notice that in a way they are trying to do the same thing over and over .. perfecting something throughout the years so it sometimes helps to see their early work. I can recommend the book “what are you looking at?” By Will Gompertz.
Having said that… no need to feel bad about “not getting” some work of art .. sometimes it’s quite literally impossible to “get” an artwork if you don’t know certain things .. kind of like not understanding a word because it’s in a different language.
It's not for you to 'get'. It's for the artist to expunge ideas from their brain into the physical world to satisfy some internal urge.