Gifted art
Encyclopedia
Gifted art is any form or piece of art that is given freely, whether to a city, a group of people, a community or an individual. It refers to any art
that is distributed at no direct cost. It is a form of conceptual art
. It comes from a belief that art should be for available for all people to enjoy, whether rich or poor, university graduate or junior high dropout. Since Gifted Art is an expressive form of art - an idea, it encompasses virtually all forms of art: movies, literature
, music recordings, sculpture
, painting
, graffiti
, digital art
, street performances, performance art
, graffiti
, sticker art
, comics, coffeehouse poetry and Internet
-distributed art etc.
Duchamp was one of the first modern day artists to Gift to the public with his piece, Fountain
, for an art show in 1917. He gave the piece under the name of "R. Mutt," presumably to hide his identity as the artist. He actually had to pay $7 to have the piece exhibited in the show, and never intended on making any money from it. He gave it freely for all to see and to push forward the Dada
movement.
In the 50's, Ray Johnson
started doing Mail art
. He spread the idea to many other artists and it still occurs today. In 2002, a 6 ft X 53 ft mural by Roy Lichtenstein
was installed in the Times Square Subway Station in New York City. It was gifted by the artist to all New Yorkers.
In recent years, Gifted Art has primarily been embraced by graffiti and urban artists. Many graffiti artists consider the work they do to be art for the public. Banksy writes in his books that he believes art is more important and more enjoyable when it is out on the street where people can view it in their everyday lives than when it hangs in a museum.
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
that is distributed at no direct cost. It is a form of conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
. It comes from a belief that art should be for available for all people to enjoy, whether rich or poor, university graduate or junior high dropout. Since Gifted Art is an expressive form of art - an idea, it encompasses virtually all forms of art: movies, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, music recordings, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, digital art
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
, street performances, performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, sticker art
Sticker art
Sticker art is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers...
, comics, coffeehouse poetry and Internet
Internet art
Internet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
-distributed art etc.
Short History
Gifted Art has a long history in the arts. Many artists have been known to give art freely to each other, in an effort to pass along ideas, etc. Picasso and many of his contemporaries were fond of this.Duchamp was one of the first modern day artists to Gift to the public with his piece, Fountain
Fountain (Duchamp)
Fountain is a 1917 work by Marcel Duchamp. It is one of the pieces which he called readymades. In such pieces he made use of an already existing object. In this case Duchamp used a urinal, which he titled Fountain and signed "R. Mutt". Readymades also go by the term Found object...
, for an art show in 1917. He gave the piece under the name of "R. Mutt," presumably to hide his identity as the artist. He actually had to pay $7 to have the piece exhibited in the show, and never intended on making any money from it. He gave it freely for all to see and to push forward the Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
movement.
In the 50's, Ray Johnson
Ray Johnson
Raymond Edward Johnson , known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art...
started doing Mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
. He spread the idea to many other artists and it still occurs today. In 2002, a 6 ft X 53 ft mural by Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
was installed in the Times Square Subway Station in New York City. It was gifted by the artist to all New Yorkers.
In recent years, Gifted Art has primarily been embraced by graffiti and urban artists. Many graffiti artists consider the work they do to be art for the public. Banksy writes in his books that he believes art is more important and more enjoyable when it is out on the street where people can view it in their everyday lives than when it hangs in a museum.
See also
- GraffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
- Urban cultureUrban cultureUrban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
- Art graffiti
- Street ArtStreet artStreet art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
- Internet artInternet artInternet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
- Free Art licenseFree Art licenseThe Free Art License is a copyleft license that grants the right to freely copy, distribute, and transform creative works without needing the author's explicit permission.The Free Art License recognizes and protects these rights...
- Free culture movementFree Culture movementThe free culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media....
- Free contentFree contentFree content, or free information, is any kind of functional work, artwork, or other creative content that meets the definition of a free cultural work...
Further reading
- The Gift by Lewis Hyde, Vintage, 1983
- Wall and Peace by Banksy, Century, 2005
External links
- http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/swoon.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/magazine/16hyde-t.htm
- http://airamerica.com/category/topics/adam-neate
- http://www.netartreview.net/
Gifted Art Organizations
There are now several art shows and organizations where art is gifted. Here are a few.- http://contempart.org.uk/
- http://www.freeartfair.com/
- http://ugcunion.ning.com/
- http://www.freeart.org/
- http://www.artfundprize.org.uk/sponsor-and-supporters.php