Thursday, January 04, 2007

Christo and Seth Godin

I was watching Seth Godin's speech to Google on Sam Karp's blog.

I would love to hear Seth Godin analyze the work of the artists Christo and Jeanne Claude. They are able to tap an entire network of art historians and museums. Their work of environmental installation by their nature creates a spectacle that can be discussed and artifacts from the event exhibited. By engaging the art world in this way the art is infused with a kind of meaning that does not exist in the work itself. Christo and Jeanne Claude maintain that their work does not contain underlying symbolic meaning. The work is to be appreciated as it experienced. But the work benefits from the buzz that the event creates. The "story" of the event easily overshadows the actual piece. So does the art exist in creating something that can be discussed?

I am fascinated with this idea and would love to hear comments.

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