- Melbourne is an awesome city to live. I dont care about the art s@#$.
- What would those fake-stuck-up snobs know about life, seriously look at how stuck up and UGLY they are and there cloths are circa 2005 how lame
- WHAT A LOAD OF ELITIST CLAP TRAP. PROBABLY NEVER WORKED A DAY IN THEIR LIVES ANY ONE OF THEM. WHO CARES? I'M HAPPY.
- to all you art critics....if you dont like our beloved city then get out!!!
- What can you say to these so-called Art Academics, other than "Get a real job"?
- Thankfully such tossers live overseas, they can stay there too in their cultural elitist society.
- What a bunch of up-themselves twats! Here is my artistic advice to you - B****r off and go home. We do not want or need a bunch of supposed-intellectual tossers telling us anything about our city.
- Elitist 'Experts' Who Don't Have Real Jobs
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mysterbey- January 22nd, 2008
The 32nd International Committee of the History of Art is currently being held in Melbourne. There are around 700 attendees, including museum directors, curators, academics, and art historians from all over the world. The Herald Sun asked 15 of them for their opinions on Melbourne. The response seems to be fairly mixed. The fact that quite a few make comparisons to Berlin, Paris, and London implies that the Herald Sun asked them that as a direct question - "How would you compare Melbourne's culture with that of Berlin, Paris, or London?". Of course, Melbourne doesn't compare favourably with those cities - it's too small - it's not a fair comparison to make in the first place. The article is then given the headline "Critics blast city as art wasteland" which prompts the usual angry comments from readers.
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My fave is "and there cloths are circa 2005 how lame, such a valid point! I know I always make sure my cloth is up-to-date. Those critics think they know art!
Apart from the obvious idiocy of comparing Melbourne with cities like London, Paris, New York and Berlin, I found it a rather balanced article. Or at least the quotes provided a good survey.
It is true that Aboriginal art is THE major development in contemporary Australian art and the Potter centre has a very good collection of it. It is also true that Australian art galleries in general take a somewhat orientalist approach to Asian art - AGNSW has a good collection of buddhas and whathaveyou - but don't pay attention to modern Asian art. And there are very obvious reasons why none of them have outstanding collections of pre-1900 century art from Europe.
On the architecture side, the American who complained about the lack of modern architecture should visit London and Paris! London almost entirely avoided the brown box skyscraper mode - they had precisely one for about 3 decades. But it's also true that Fed Sq is really the only place where an architect's imagination has really let fly. It IS too busy, but it is also very interesting - I also think the busy-ness comes from its location where it looks odd in the midst of a load of late 19th-early 20th century buildings. It would look better in a more companionable environment. Since they are professional historians, one of them might have commented on whether the Potter centre has influenced somebody as great and famous as Daniel Liebskind in his design for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (it looks like it to my inexpert eye).
I think they reach a reasonable consensus, however, that Melbourne does pretty well for a second-tier city (without the Big Bucks and marketing that other cities get). I think that's a very fair assessment.
Edited at 2008-01-22 02:12 am (UTC)
It is true that Aboriginal art is THE major development in contemporary Australian art and the Potter centre has a very good collection of it. It is also true that Australian art galleries in general take a somewhat orientalist approach to Asian art - AGNSW has a good collection of buddhas and whathaveyou - but don't pay attention to modern Asian art. And there are very obvious reasons why none of them have outstanding collections of pre-1900 century art from Europe.
On the architecture side, the American who complained about the lack of modern architecture should visit London and Paris! London almost entirely avoided the brown box skyscraper mode - they had precisely one for about 3 decades. But it's also true that Fed Sq is really the only place where an architect's imagination has really let fly. It IS too busy, but it is also very interesting - I also think the busy-ness comes from its location where it looks odd in the midst of a load of late 19th-early 20th century buildings. It would look better in a more companionable environment. Since they are professional historians, one of them might have commented on whether the Potter centre has influenced somebody as great and famous as Daniel Liebskind in his design for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (it looks like it to my inexpert eye).
I think they reach a reasonable consensus, however, that Melbourne does pretty well for a second-tier city (without the Big Bucks and marketing that other cities get). I think that's a very fair assessment.
Edited at 2008-01-22 02:12 am (UTC)
Yes. I was surprised when I read the article because the headline was so misleading. Nobody 'blasted' Melbourne and nobody described it as a 'wasteland'. I guess what I found surprising was the fact that the headline alone seemed to elicit the reader responses.
I think you've got it right. The Herald Sun asked a stupid question, received the appropriate answer and now the ignorant respond.
There's a kinda perverse satisfaction in reading all those angry responses though, isn't there? As you pointed out above, the Herald have just set it all up and any rational person taking the time to actually read the article would probably argue that the comments made by the art critics etc were quite reasonable. Instead you get all these defensive idiots that are outraged by a set-up headline and entirely fail to consider that the comments have been taken out of context .. and whammo! Melbourne is suddenly not only an artistic 'wasteland', it's also home to a bunch of apparently irate, fashion-obsessed, foul-mouthed and totally unwelcoming idiots.
The part that made the most sense to me: "Cities like London or Paris or New York remain at the top -- and necessarily for historical reasons. Melbourne is one of the best in the second tier."
**stooping to a lower level** The negative criticism comes from a lack of historical knowledge and common sense...what doofuses! I don't have to be a museum director, curator, academic, or art historian to figure out that London, Paris, and New York are older cities and have had many more years to develop vast collections of art. A quality art collection takes oodles of time, lots of money, and people with exceptional knowledge of quality art. It sounds like nothing is wrong with Melbourne except for sensationalistic journalism.
**stooping to a lower level** The negative criticism comes from a lack of historical knowledge and common sense...what doofuses! I don't have to be a museum director, curator, academic, or art historian to figure out that London, Paris, and New York are older cities and have had many more years to develop vast collections of art. A quality art collection takes oodles of time, lots of money, and people with exceptional knowledge of quality art. It sounds like nothing is wrong with Melbourne except for sensationalistic journalism.
Well, I don't think anything more needs to be said. Then again the respondents are probably sort of people who end up sprogging out kids like Corey the Party Animal and then wonder why they turned out that way.
As has been said, a better comparison would be with places like, plucking a few cities out of the air, Amsterdam, Edinburgh (which is actually quite small compared to Melbourne) and Austin TX.
As has been said, a better comparison would be with places like, plucking a few cities out of the air, Amsterdam, Edinburgh (which is actually quite small compared to Melbourne) and Austin TX.
I so proud to live here. Comment #2 especially made me weep with patriotic fervour.
2008-01-22 01:59 am (UTC)