Dave Hickey

Yesterday was a day off from school (phew! I needed it!) but I still went to school in the evening to hear Dave Hickey, a famous art critic. He spoke about the art market, how it began from competition to do artwork for the Catholic church and evolved into what we have today. He also spoke about how it's hard to put a price on objects that have emotional, not useful, value. He was a bit full of himself, of course, but he did have some good points:

-Art fills in what society and culture do not give us (colorful art in black & white 1950's, and minimalism in the 1970's, etc)

-Is it art if no one likes it? No!

-Is it art if no one sees it? No!

He encouraged us to make work that is memorable to others. No one really cares about you, the artist, until you are really famous. They only care about what you make.

I probably should have tried to turn in more "memorable" work in the two shows instead of being so concerned with what people would like. It's good advice for the future.