Art bollocks
Encyclopedia
Art Bollocks is the title of an article written by Brian Ashbee, appearing in Art Review in April 1999. In it Ashbee points out the enhanced significance accorded language, referred to as "theoretical discourse", as a counterpart of especially "post-modern" art. The post-modern art forms referred-to are "installation art, photography, conceptual art, video..." The question is asked why these forms are as dependent as they are on theoretical discourse.
While art bollocks has flourished as a part of the art market since the 1960s, the term describing it was first coined in 1999 by Brian Ashbee in an Art Review article, "A Beginner’s Guide to Art Bollocks and How to Be a Critic".
contexts of the British English
slang
word "bollocks
", where the relevant text is perceived as near-nonsensical comments about a work of art.
s and exhibition curator
s use art bollocks to portray themselves as knowledgeable about the work in question, its important place in the world and therefore its value. Art bollocks is, however, never needed by mainstream art critic
s to describe works by masters such as Jack Yeats, Rembrandt or Magritte, and so its use to promote relatively unknown artists naturally raises questions about its veracity.
In turn, new art school graduates have increased markedly since the 1980s in Europe and America, leading to an oversupply of art and consequently a greater demand for art bollocks to rationalize their oeuvre.
Art dealers counter that they have to do their best to sell a work of art at the highest price they can get, and that explaining the inexplicable value and meaning of art can require terms that goes beyond the uses of everyday language. Every other profession has its own specialist terms that can appear meaningless to those working outside it.
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History
According to David Thompson, writing in his blog "TypePad" in 2006, the term "art bollocks" was first introduced into serious art writing by Brian Ashbee in 1999 in an essay published in "Art Review." Ashbee's essay was given the title, "A Beginners Guide to Art Bollocks and How to be a Critic."While art bollocks has flourished as a part of the art market since the 1960s, the term describing it was first coined in 1999 by Brian Ashbee in an Art Review article, "A Beginner’s Guide to Art Bollocks and How to Be a Critic".
Pejorative sense
"Art bollocks" links to the pejorativePejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
contexts of the British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
word "bollocks
Bollocks
"Bollocks" is a word of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning "testicles". The word is often used figuratively in British English and Hiberno-English, as a noun to mean "nonsense", an expletive following a minor accident or misfortune, or an adjective to mean "poor quality" or "useless"...
", where the relevant text is perceived as near-nonsensical comments about a work of art.
Function
A prospective buyer of art can be lured by art bollocks into thinking that a work of art represents much more than it appears to be. While aimed at novice buyers, and perhaps hoping to awe and intimidate them into buying an artwork, art dealerArt dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
s and exhibition curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
s use art bollocks to portray themselves as knowledgeable about the work in question, its important place in the world and therefore its value. Art bollocks is, however, never needed by mainstream art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
s to describe works by masters such as Jack Yeats, Rembrandt or Magritte, and so its use to promote relatively unknown artists naturally raises questions about its veracity.
In turn, new art school graduates have increased markedly since the 1980s in Europe and America, leading to an oversupply of art and consequently a greater demand for art bollocks to rationalize their oeuvre.
Art dealers counter that they have to do their best to sell a work of art at the highest price they can get, and that explaining the inexplicable value and meaning of art can require terms that goes beyond the uses of everyday language. Every other profession has its own specialist terms that can appear meaningless to those working outside it.
Critique
Art bollocks has become to some extent an art form in itself, and has been described as "beyond parody". It has been generated by computer programComputer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
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Deconstructionism
Following the vogue for Deconstructionism that arose from the 1960s, many experimental and "deconstructed" artworks were best described in the language of deconstructivist philosophers. This gave these artworks an extra interest to those who understood this often contorted language, or who were at least impressed by its claim to a deeper knowledge and understanding of the world.See also
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