The Emporer Has No Clothes

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

14 years ago

Sometime ago, John Stossel of ABC TCÂs "20/20 Give Me A Break", program had this interesting sketch.

Stossel lined up a whole bunch of paintings, some done by children, some done by monkeys and a few done by famous artists. He invited several artists and art critics to comment on the paints. Well, you probably can guess the end result. The funny part was to hear the embarrassed critics and artists trying to justify why they made the mistakes.

The emperor has no clothes.

The thread in the Food Forum is still going on.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/con052156127878.html?45

In many ways it proofs my point that freedom of speech is important, productive, and constructive, even the comments may be destructive.

The ones who think the work done by many here is "kitsch" should know better that the same Quiche could taste different to different people.

None of the folks at the Food Forum claims to be the worldÂs best chef, and none of the folks here claims to be Picasso, but letÂs see some of the works Picasso had done:

Dcarch

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Comments (13)

susiesunshine
14 years ago
R I G H T ~ O N ! ! !

10 - 4 !!!!! YOU GO ! ! ! YOU ROCK ! ! ! !

THANKS for the *WONDERFUL * POST ! ! ! !

GOD BLESS ~ FREEDOM ! ! !

God Bless!
SusieSunshine

***** GO GARDEN JUNKERS ! ! !
KEEP UP THE GRRRRRREAT WORK>>> SMILE>>> MAKE 'EM WONDER WHAT YA BEEN UP TO !!!!! tee he !!!!!
concretenprimroses
14 years ago
Great post, hehe.
kathy
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I heard that they want a mood board. I am not sure what this means exactly. If I was a stylist, I would want to see my client in photos in everyday clothing, work clothing, dressy casual and dressy. Clothing and sizes are so difficult. I was just at Ann Tylor Loft. I wanted a new pair of jeans. I can wear from a 4 to an 8 there! How ridiculous. Tops can be XXXS, which is also absurd since they still go up to Large and sometimes XL. So even if the shopper would ask me what size I am at Loft, I really can't say. I guess they want you to give measurements of your body, will ask for weight and height which would help. Ded, in the example of my friend, they sent her a knit black and white stripe skirt. Something she would never even look at in a store. She wore it out to lunch with me during the summer. It was really cute. Luckily she has a top that complemented the skirt because not every top would look good with it. I read a blog and the writer did not like anything in three different orders except a pair of jeans. She felt the process was worthwhile since well fitting jean can be a challenge. in the case of my niece, (not sure which one she uses but I can find out) her buyer had her down. She sent very unusual dresses and they all fit. As I mentioned some she bought to keep. It's funny though. Since I do a lot of online shopping being petite, I sometimes feel like I am getting a mystery box because sometimes the colors and styles wind up being very different from the photos.
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coloredthumb
14 years ago
I'm not sure I consider some things ART but if I Like it I'll display it. Monkey done, child done or famous artist I don't particularly care.

CT
luna_llena_feliz
14 years ago
Great message, dcarch! Like we often hear, "One's man trash is another man's treasure."
katishooked
14 years ago
This is exactly what we are trying to do. The art of garden junkers.

Kat
tennesseetrash
14 years ago
Point well made DC, we should be thankful for freedom of speech, and always protect our right to it.

Artists, of all mediums from music to sculpting, know that there will always be critics. You can't please everybody. Good art pleases most, and even if there is a negative comment, I defend their right to say it. After all, it's just one person's opinion. An artist who puts his/her work out there must have the confidence to overlook the critics.

For example, where would American Idol be without Simon Cowell?!? Dull. Boring. And he's even wrong every now and then lol .... but he's got the courage to say what he thinks.

Most who don't like GJ art wouldn't waste time here, much less write a lengthy post about it. I disagreed with the post being removed, because there was no profanity, just rudeness maybe, but so what? The cyber police can't arrest them .... just ignore and move on.

What really matters is that you enjoy creating the art. Not what others think of it. Art should be created for the pleasure of the artistic experience. Praise is a bonus if it turns out good :-)

I'm wishing all the GJ artists lots more praise, because that's what we're all about ..... encouragement for the art and beauty that comes from recycling and being creative with items that would otherwise go to landfills. People who don't get that won't spend too much time here .... too boring for them, although it is my idea of entertainment. Now .... on to hunting more good GJ photos of their wonderful creations ..... :-)

Just overlook rude visitors, they'll get bored and go away. I don't want to think that I can't say what I think here without getting banned or something, none of us do ..... ~tenderlee
gardencraze
14 years ago
Dido to tenderlee,
I love to see somone try, the critics ought to try them selfs they might enjoy doing something goofy or beautiful. I very nuch would to put some of my garden junk in this forum but I don't know how.(not computer savy at all)
Thanx everybody for the great things you are making.
jitterbug4756
14 years ago
I'm reading this post & know about the post it refers to, about our "trash" & it was removed by ?? Im confused. On Carolina gardening they are posting about a garden expert being banned by GW ??/ for waht reasons. Are there rules somewhere I did not read when I came here. I know no profanity, but I have been at some forums where they cuss..so is it the people on the forum who lodge a complaint or are there administrators trolling the forums and removing & banning people at their will ?? I too strongly believe in freedom of speech & think if you dont like a particular forum , there are plenty more to go to.Can someone please clue me in so I dont inadvertantly break some vague rule & get ..what was the phrase..sent to disneyworld ?...thanks, Judy
claudia_sandgrower
14 years ago
Hi Judy... that was me at Carolina Forum posting about Al/Tapla from the container Gardening forum. Happily, he's back... several folks (me included) sent protest emails to the GW administrator(s). You can hop over there and read his "hi I'm back!" post... he's still not sure exactly what happened, but it may have been something about sharing a link on GW to a competitor's site (????)... I'm not really sure!

BTW - this is my first visit to this forum and I'm tickled petunia! I had no idea it existed... I expect to be lurking around here often... LOVE to "make something from nothing"!!
lindasewandsew
14 years ago
Thanks for this thread dcarch. Wonder if Picasso made this on some day he was REALLY bored, lol. My kids found me this little sewing flea at the TS about 5 years ago (he wears the same amount of clothing as the emporer- none). He can't hide his exuberance when sewing, and neither can I, hehe. Yeah, I make old trash into new trash while sewing too! Linda

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little_dani
14 years ago
I lurk here a lot, and I had to go read that post on the cooking forum. I was surprised at the hatefullness of some of those people. Also, I was really gratified at how nice some were.

Anyway, it irritated me no end. I had to post to it. I will probably be escorted off the forums now.

Janie
jitterbug4756
14 years ago
Janie, I just got through reading "thier" responses to the post. I also was surprized by the hatefulness & snobbery & shocked by the rasist attitudes of a couple of the posters. " about a load of mulch, the father in law George (pronouced Hor-hay)finally moved it" "blue bottle trees in the yards of African Americans"... it was so sad really. Then I read a couple of their other threads "stupid things you do in the kitchen" where a woman wrote McCormick had changed the lids on thier spices and she kept dumping alot in her dishes, AND CALLED MCCORMICK to see if they planned on changing thir lids back..the rep told her to tape her lid shut..LOL LOL LOL ROMLMBO...I bet he was laughing about her call at the water cooler. I guess it takes all kinds to make up the world..and even tho I'm in the Food business as a profession...whooo..it's kinda scary over there.Thank you Lord for leading me to MKP where friendly & tolerent prevail....Judy
luna_llena_feliz
14 years ago
When I first posted a response to this thread, I hadn't read the snippety remarks at the other forum. Maybe this thread should have been called the Queens with Brooms up Their Bums? lol! Kudos to the people on the other forum who said they liked bottle trees and penny bowling balls!

I guess some people just don't appreciate folk art the way I do. Or don't respect creative recycling and repurposing. Maybe you have to grow up in a family that didn't have much to truly appreciate the beauty and passion that goes into simple folkart. Why do I have the feeling that the worst of the worst on that other forum don't live paycheck to paycheck?

When I was a kid, my mother and I went to Old World Wisconsin, which is an outdoor museum of rural life in the 1800s. The memory jars and jugs in so many of the homes fascinated me. People would add bits and pieces to an old jug or jar using plaster or putty. They were made up of buttons, broken pieces of china, little figurines, broken jewelry, seashells ... well you get the idea. They weren't all fancy or elaborate but I found it interesting that someone thought of a simple way to store memories of little things they collected throughout their lives. I bet those things could tell a lot of stories if they could talk!

Another type of folkart I think is gorgeous are the "sailor's valentines." They are simple boxes mosaiced with seashells of all shapes, sizes and colors in elaborate designs. Sailors would bring them home to their sweethearts when they returned from a long voyage.

And don't get me started on my love of face jugs!

My point is, so much of this folkart is now worth BIG BUCKS! On eBay, there was a sailor's valentine from the 1860s with a bid of $1,380 and there was 14 hours left! Face jugs ... new ones not antiques ... were selling for hundreds of dollars. An antique memory jug was going for $650 with 10 days left for bidding. Apparently some people with big bucks appreciate this primitive art as much as I do.

And thank goodness for people like the Kohler Foundation (yes, the toilet people) who support folkart and other primitive art. They have done an awesome job saving and restoring folkart sites like Grandview, Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden & Museum and James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden (all of which I have visited).

So when I see a GJer's beautiful garden interspersed with primitive art that took good ol' ingenuity, creativity and imagination, I have to stand up and applaud them. That childlike creativeness has spawned some beautiful things.

But I gotta agree with tennesseetrash, people should have a right to voice their opinions. I am a bit upset that the original post in question was removed from our forum. I thoroughly enjoyed reading our responses to it!

Signed,
OOTP (One of THOSE People)

P.S. lindasewandsew, I just love that flea!

The Emporer Has No Clothes

Comments (13)

susiesunshine

concretenprimroses

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