Matthew Collings :: This Is Modern Art ep.1 (1/5)

[cyberslaw]

Well well, who would suppose that people would be fighting about art, and even more here than on a music hit video of a recently split federation, of some unknown communist country, and don't even say your not fighting but arguing because that is so gay!

[isthis2much2day]

lol this is modern art ..... /watch?v=bjYNLZmy4f4

[trinitaterion]

@Lerax429

The opposite! thats not my idea, is the reality, the percentage of people in this planet that can paint or draw with a high degree of skill is much much inferior to those who labels themselves as artists just because they do installations, performance, action painting etc

Make your own research, just go to the net and check every single living artist and youre going to find the truth. Right now maybe 100 people in this planet can paint "classically" compared to 109385793 modern ones!

[ArtUzerzzz]

HITLER COME BACK PLEASE, ALL IS FORGIVEN.

[thekrunkymonkey1]

i find modern art difficult to masturbate to

[trinitaterion]

@thekrunkymonkey1

Is exactly what it is, mental masturbation with the ego and the critics.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Yes, Matthew Collings is just so hip and cool and sophisticated, and he's terrified we won't notice.  Pretentious pseudo-intellectuals like this are ruining the arts. Modern art, modern poetry, modern music are all ugly and ultimately boring, and they're all interrelated. They all express contempt for the human mind and for the general public, and they usually refer to nothing outside themselves.

So good job, Mr. Collings.

[Lottechoco]

modern is total rubbish. There was a time when people don't know the difference between real science and pseudo-science. We are at an age when people don't know the different between abstract rubbish and thoughtful craftsmanship.

[Halllibut]

Did he just say Van Goff?

[ziggyYardie]

 Modern Art is rubbish

[davidmatthieu]

Good paintings. Remind me the place of the artist Marice Experton in France

[CommanderHaddock]

I agree that its annoying that some Modern Art sells for Millions whilst other equally thoughtful art doesn't sell at all.

But this doesn't make even the expensive Art not good or thoughtful or a masterpiece. This doesn't make the Artist a bastard.

They did not create the economic and class world we live in today.

They merely reflect that world (and sometimes question it )

Don't moan at them - moan at the system we live in.

[CommanderHaddock]

Furthemore, the Sqaure is all about questioning how messed up we are.

We think we're progressed but the 20th Century was just as fucked up as any other.

Civilisation has come to the point where nothing is sacred or new in terms of high minded values.

Religion failed (not because of atheism. No religious people can be equally fucked as any other human). + we can't prove God

Capitalism doesn't work.

Nothing works - what should i believe in? Modern Art reflects these problems

[CommanderHaddock]

Modern art may seem meaningless or confusing. But thats actually the point.

It reflects modern life. We are confused. Advanced Capitalist society is fast. Everything changes all the time. Nothing stays the same. There is no one over-riding idea or God anymore.

To deal with this the majority of people numb themselves with consumer goods.

Modern art reflects this. Andy Warhol ask's "why should art always tell off society in a deep and hard manner - why should base things be bad?"

[CommanderHaddock]

1. Art is something that depicts an aspect of the world with purpose, vision and meaning. So modern art is art.

2. modern art rebels against traditional forms because it is searching for origniality. It's boring to repeat the same process again and again. Fucking boring actually. Artisit's want to try something new. Plus its a concept of the modern mind to search for change.

[Lottechoco]

@CommanderHaddock You say it's boring to paint realistically- it's not, there are infinite ways to paint realistically, you don't have to draw out every detail, Michelangelo didn't, he added or took out some detail, he made up some muscles on the body(who really looked like those models in the painting?). You can do caricatures, cartoon or more--> they create some emotional or satire effect.

Second, Painting very simple dots, lines, circles, etc. Isn't that what boring really is?

[CommanderHaddock]

I love some of these comments and reactions.

"Modern Art is shit , I want pretty paintings, must have pretty paintings"

"Modern Art is degenerate and immoral" - steady on Hitler

"Modern Art is meaningless" - I'm not meaningless I have purpose in this mass consumer world

"Art must have Beauty, it must reflect Humanity" - What if Humanity is Ugly?

my favourite though is this:

"when abstraction becomes a way of creating ugliness its shit" - i suppose you must hate Goya? mb

[trinitaterion]

@CommanderHaddock

i personally dislike this art, because i find it an insult to farmers that work their asses off all day to feed people that do a work of art in 20mins charge $ and then go to get drunk

Ive read everything and know all the names and still im convinced most of it is worthless

The day artists work for everyone, not just for the "educated" elite (dont have to be pretty! they get respect Dont judge people that fast, their critic towards postmodern art is not something to dismissed

[Mateusrmg]

@trinitaterion There are much larger insults to the poor, believe me... And you really make it sound really easy, to make a lot of money with art, have you actually tried? It's something close to impossible.

Besides, there are many many artists who work for a broad audience, and many many people with they're mind so closed that they don't even try to appreciate the object or the idea transmitted.

And you? Do you work for everybody? Does anyone? Really?

[kabernathy550]

shit is weird

[KhagarBalugrak]

@AstronomyGuru1, I'm glad you recognize the need for beauty. I do hope, however, that it doesn't just become an intellectual exercise - you must look with your heart and not just your head and your eyes.

In music, however, the intolerance is much worse. If you dare to write anything with a shred of beauty, expect never to get into any school, ever, and expect them to kick you out if you're currently attending school. Everything must be always harsh, ugly, and dissonant. What a crime.

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak There is an exact scientific reason why these communities, now, embrace the 'unusual': discordant, dissonant, and atonal, everything. Cognizing, and experiencing, the polyphonic structure; the articulated cadences - the purposefully affected directed tension and defined 'beauty,' requires a devoloped cognitive capability, which can induce some uniquely humanistic biochemicals: serotonin and endorphins. These abilities can become augmented or degraded. When the abilities become...

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak degraded, humans can not experience the aforementioned functions; the beauty, the structure, and/or the uniquely humanistic biochemicals - and true emotions. There is another biochemical, called dopamine. Dopamine is 'sex' - 'drugs,' and just about everything else, including abstracted musical sounds themselves, and a grandoise environment: a music hall - the marble; the granite; the plush carpets; etc., and when humans experience a 'surprise,' and/or something 'unexpected,'...

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak such as: dissonance - discord and chaos, and even something such as 'unusual' art: a never before seen 'Cubist' thing. Unfortunately, the exact demographic: the aristocracy, which has always been the primary patrons of the 'arts,' is, always, the first to experience the degradation, instead of the augmentation. at one point, music: Bach - Mozart - Vivaldi, and too even one 'picture': Da Vinci's The Annunciation, contained the defined polyphonic structure, the articulated...

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak cadences - the 'beauty,' and required the developed cognitive capability to experience it. Over the course of hundreds of years the aristocracy experienced the degradation, and not the augmentation. And so the became capable of: "Confusing the map with the territory," as they became incapable of experiencing teh structure - the articulated cadences, the directed tension, and the beauty, and also the uniquely humanistic biochemicals: the serotonin and endorphins: the 'territory'..

[KhagarBalugrak]

@MrMikeludo, you have a good point in bringing up the fact that the aristocracy has been the first, and only, class of people to embrace ugliness and destructiveness in art, music, poetry, etc. The "cultural revolution" that brought about this ugliness was fought by the aristocracy, and has been championed by professors and students who are, whatever their level of affluence, want to become part of the aristocracy. Modern art, music, and poetry are conservative, not humanistic or liberal.

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak You are exactly correct. Which raises one very important question: Where does one go to find an audience who can be affected by: concord - harmony - beauty - symmetry - intelligence, as a true 'human' being can, and as opposed to a defined animal? It is almost as if we are living in some kind of bizarre science fiction movie, where there simply are no more uniquely humanistic beings left, only unevolved primates. Kind of like a planet of apes. Someone should make a movie.

[MrMikeludo]

@KhagarBalugrak And they became only capable of experiencing the animalistic dopamine inducing 'things': the musical sounds - the grandoise environment - the atonality - the dissonance - the discord - the 'colors' and all never before seen 'things' such as a 'Cubist' thing: the 'map,' and which defines, almost, all 20th century 'art.' The greatest irony, is the fact that these exact same people: the degraded, do also sincerely believe that they are the most supremely sophisticated in the world.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@AstronomyGuru1, abstract art can be beautiful as long as it tries to evoke actual abstract concepts - like love, sadness, virtue, etc. You can paint using pure light - for example, a sheen of beautiful light unconnected to any form.

But when abstraction becomes a way of deliberately obscuring the art, a way of evading communication, or a way of creating ugliness - like Pollock's splatter paintings, or Picasso's warped and hideous images, it becomes shit.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@AstronomyGuru1, no, you're not a freak for liking both. I'm not really complaining about people like you who like both. I'm complaining, rather, about the current state of affairs in the art and music world: the intolerance of any art or music except that which is harsh, ugly, abstract, and deliberately obscure.

Nevertheless, I would warn you against what your professors are doing to your mind in terms of loving modern art. Remember that art must have compassion and humanity, not just form.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@AstronomyGuru1, I hate to remind you of this, but those who endorse modern art or atonal music are rigidly intolerant of artists or musicians working in older styles. They are not broad-minded. They are conservative, intolerant, rigid, and care only about stylistic conformity. They banish from their campuses those with other ways of creating and relating to art or music, all in the name of individuality and intellectual freedom.

I went to music school, I know what I'm talking about.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Hey Matthew Collings,

I just have to say, I think the fact that you eschew beauty and meaning in your artwork is just fantastic. Your endorsement of a map with alternate names as a piece of artwork is equally fantastic. I love your horn-rimmed spectacles, your lack of shaving, and your insufferable hipness.

Just goes to show you that in order to take modern art seriously, you have to be either blind, retarded, or a pompous, pretentious, self-deluded ass.

[V4Valmont]

what's the name of the song at the beginning?

[NekoBeau]

You want to see real rebels? Go look at the Stuckists. At least they're not jumping on bandwagons.

[NekoBeau]

Art is just a load of gullible, egocentric pseudo-intellectuals who pretend to be original and live on mantras started by the real rebels, decades ago. "It doesn't need to be skillful to be art" is an obsolete argument, put forward many years ago, the most forthright piece being Duchamp's Urinal, 1911. Art is always evolving? Art is dead and ruled by elitist wankers are still living on ideas older than they are. Real artists are the ones who are original, regardless of medium, not these twats.

[trinitaterion]

@NekoBeau

What i LOVE about the internet is that postmodern art cannot hide itself in the press and the condescending critics now contemporary art has to face itself against the people that feed them and accept their criticism without hiding themselves in the convenient "modern" label

[jacu25]

My mate hung himself in a modern art gallery.

It was three weeks before anyone noticed.

[majorisore]

@jacu25 must have seen my 'interpretation of a full stop'

[TypoChamp]

@jacu25 HAHAHAHAHHA !

[trinitaterion]

@jacu25

Then that according to contemporary trends, would be a great work of art :(

[koreankayagum]

Let's all post as many of the modern art cliches as we can think of. You know, the kind of vague statements that are supposed to sound profound but aren't.

-"It's an exploration of the space between the viewer and the art object."

-"It challenges the viewer to reconsider their relationship to art and the gallery walls."

Has anyone else noticed that these types of phrases are bandied about, yet there's never any of explication, probably because there's nothing behind the vague statement.

[trinitaterion]

@koreankayagum

"Challenges the act of painting itself and the object of art becomes aware of itself, driving new emotions to the spectator"

"In this particular work, the painting denies itself and becomes a new paradigm for a rational space where the artist is free from the conception of form, being able to express his most inner feelings and thoughts"

hahah thats funny!

[SmartArtFart]

@koreankayagum Hahah ha thats good the way you done that! everyone should look at my attempts at Modern art you will not be unpleased /watch?v=rEJVisS0vgM

Let me Know what you guys think ??????

[GregerSteker]

Interesting clip.

Check out the Stockholm subway system, its one big "modern" art gallery. Amazing!

/watch?v=vZWavSunQH0

[darrin42]

Why is modern art so Unrealisticaly shit?? I mean is that the idea these days?? To actually make the art SO BAD, that it makes people want to look at it simply to laugh? Bring back TRADITIONAL ART!

[vanhouten64]

Matthew was great in 'Flight of the Conchords'

[nogocologne]

I hate to tell you this, but if you like modern art there has to be something radically wrong with you. To feel hostile towards it is as natural as being repelled by incest.

Modern art is out to corrupt you.

If it doesn’t do this, it will have failed to achieve the primary purpose of its promoters, to make western civilastion "stink". It will have failed to undermine traditional values. It will have failed to produce a “culture of pessimism.” It will have failed to poison your mind

[lzoli18B]

Matthew Collings sure can't draw. Or maybe he wasn't trying. or maybe it's just modern art and I'm being a philistine

[julietteartful]

To CollingsShrine, please, please, please, post the other three episodes of this series!

[neonaction]

modern art museum is where most money are spent on art which most people won't see.

[SuperTruth77]

I love Collings- just finished watching the Renaissance Revolution series on BBC.

Am I the only one who finds it incredibly refreshing to have just one intelligent voice talking, lecture-style, for a whole hour without a single unnecessary 'talking head' interviewee?

[thegreatfearblog]

The very advanced visual culture that was achieved in middle age Europe (and Asia) had to be destroyed. The group who took over pictorial art as well as music in the early to mid-20th century, redefined those two arts for very clear political purposes. As a result, Art in the 21st century has no meaning whatsoever. It’s WHO promotes it, WHO sells it, WHO markets it, WHO appoints the "experts" that tells us what Beauty is. I expose that in my "Art" video.

[Animatronica]

@thegreatfearblog lol

[trinitaterion]

@thegreatfearblog

Well then nothing has changed, old art was crappy cause it served the rich and the powerfull, modern art is crap for the same reasons + the lack of skill in the artist. (and many other things of course, such as the creation of a big legion of parasites "experts in modern art", randomness, etc).

[thegreatfearblog]

@trinitaterion Served in what way? It gave pleasure to? Well, that's not the same at all. In many ways, it's the complete opposite. If modern art is a tool of degradation of the people, and classic art was not concerned with the people whatsoever, how can that be the same. Not that I agree with your statement. Classic art, particularly sculpture and architecture were not for the rich but for all.

[therealwillgant]

sax fantasay...

[faunflynn]

Matt is great but he can't draw for toffee.

Great post. Thanx.

[TamaraAndTheDemon]

How do you get into the Tate?

Do you hand in an form?

Do you get headhunted?

Is it what Uni you went to?????,

Is it none of these things?, does anyone know?

[TamaraAndTheDemon]

Matthew Collings ? is that the same guy that hosted the School of Saatchi?

[radeczko]

perhaps it is cool but you molski.org is art

[MyRicardo1981]

British and Americans will never going to have a genius, because both countries have a sick society with no culture!!! Only France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Russia, Latin America are the natural places for an artist!!!

[LeftyPhil01]

Thank you so much

[Clinquance]

frank, different, love it :)

[MxSmack]

This is a relic please keep this here on theYouTube community.

[stefanizer]

If anybody has the "Hello Culture"-programme, also hosted by Matthew Collings, can it be posted here please!?

His ideas and statements are worth sharing I reckon!

[spiralisedcat]

I love the fact we live amongst art always

[redleafgold]

I loved this series, it is so inspiring. Wish I could buy it.

[DeathAwaitsUsTube]

if you hate "Modern art" you should check out a song by a band called "Near Ruin" The song is called "The Masterpeice" and its a complete pisstake of modern art! its hillarious! you can find it here on youtube with lyrics!

[Dieselp0wer]

A moral man, or a wise man does NOT make a painter, but a person who can stretch the boundaries of imagination and creativity by shifting mental states & consciousness will benefit greatly.

[Dieselp0wer]

Personally, as a classically trained artist, i've come to understand that just because the metaphysical "thing" is objectified "out of the norm" should give it some artistic validity. Well, what is the norm? All works define other works in relation to one another. The body of work, whether the general assumption of value is good or bad, is visual art.

[MGX890]

what makes art great is that most people can't understand it. The outrage of an average person reflects that it works.

[GordonFreeman95]

Modern art is the biggest piece of crap that's ever been devised. If I took a shit in a box, I could make millions

[jackyeats88]

@GordonFreeman95 You could only make millions if you had the right kind of image, knew how to talk the talk, and moved in the right sort of pretentious art world circles. These artists do have to have some skill, its just that their skill is at conning people with more money than sense into buying worthless rubbish at eye-boggling prices.

[MGX890]

@GordonFreeman95 Could you?

[TamaraAndTheDemon]

@GordonFreeman95 - You could get away with it, the so called artist Tom Friedman sold a pile of his shit for £42 thousand dollars.

[MisterQuartet]

If you took the time to watch the hole episoade you'de see the theme music is by fridge - uless of course you mean the punky rock thing - don't know what that is...

[nervusss]

what is song at the begining?

[TamaraAndTheDemon]

@nervusss - i think the song is a piece of modern art  made by one of the artists in the show?

[kurtleics]

I just dont see how sawing a pig in half can be called art.

If they had have made a pig sculpture out of things then I could understand.

I guess I just like things that people spend a lot of time on. Not just 5 mins with a chainsaw.....

[dsp128]

Conceptual art is about the concept more than the finished product. Who knows how long someone deliberated about making a piece before physically making it.

I'm not condoning it but you have to understand the reason for art like this. Personally some is pure pretentious rubbish, but some can be pleasing or even humouous to look at (Duchamp, G.W. Leibniz or even Yoko Ono).

[rubenaaguilar]

yepp... i agree

[zoxofzox]

the problem i have, as an artist who grew up admiring greats like picasso and pollock, is that art no longer seems like a noble endeavor. interesting, but lets face it - vulgar, small minded and irritating to the eye. transcendence denied.

[zoxofzox]

ceaseless creativity - that's what art is. deal with it.

[Lemonscrew]

Jeeez didnt realise it was him!

[nikkivieler]

Anyone watched "school of saatchi"...

Looks a bit different now doesn't he...

[leevioutrageous]

whats that tune at the beggining

[anjelbella777]

annnnnnnnnnnnnd this is why i dont like anything 'modern'

[tj012345678901234567]

boobies on youtube yaaaaaa

[kurtleics]

How can you call this art? It all looks like some shit thrown together by a bunch of school kids!

WHY would you pay money for this bullshit?

[Godwinfj]

So the price of an art work says something about its value? You've bought into the very school of thought that debases art, and with that you really have no grounds to criticise - of course it'd 'look' like shit if you didn't even bother asking why. That's a clue there for you; decide for yourself, but also remember to inform yourself first.

[kurtleics]

Sorry that comment was a little over the top.

However I stand by my decision. Its really personal opinion, there is no right or wrong.

I think personally I just prefer artists that can draw life like amazing pictures. Ive just never been a fan of abstract/modern art.

I prefer actual pictures .... if that makes sense? lol

[zoxofzox]

@kurtleics - are writers judged by their handwriting?

[kurtleics]

Nope, not that we get to judge it.

However they are judged by their story.

In art the equivlent of the 'story' is the creation the artist is left with.

But again... it is down to personal opinion.

Personally I love graffiti art. Some would say that isnt art......

I like things that artists spend a lot of time on. I also really like picture that look life like, or realistic. They dont have to be REAL objects though.

[zoxofzox]

artists were freed a long time ago from being judged by what their hands do.

[wildboy789789]

wtf weird people

[acerb45666555]

all Art has its merits! but old Gothic art is a wee bit stiff and suprisingly crude considering theyre Pagan granddaddys made such immaculate wood, gold and silver Art! ........In Celtic world however, these traditional art styles remained and were combined with Christian art to create really slick stuff!! far from Gothic stiffness.

[aruchri]

Matthew Colling's series is cool. He really knows how to make us understand a lot about art and relate the message to our modern times.

[TheBrazilianFreak]

thanks!

[acnomel]

piratebay has the torrent of the full collection

[hawkeyesurfer]

I can't believe this series has not been released to DVD. I have searched everywhere because it's the one series about art thats actually interesting and funny. If anyone knows how to get this series please let me know. :)

[Japaljarri]

Any idea if the series can be purchased anywhere?

[shilpah]

Matthew Collings = Raw sex.

[girlshateme007]

thank you !!! x x x x x x x x

[alithegreen]

Matthew Collings is the man

[KhagarBalugrak]

@alithegreen, no, he's a pretentious hipster who has deluded himself as to what is beautiful or ugly. He likes being cool and different, and is indifferent to beauty. He likes novelty and new-ness for its own sake, not because it actually helps to transform art on a positive manner. His obsession with making his hair and beard unkempt enough, in wearing something stylish enough, point to the fact that he doesn't really care about the content of artwork at all.

[nextoliver]

Thanks a lot for putting up mr. Collings' work here. Very helpful for us non-Britons, who never had the chance to see the series on TV.

[ploomanshi]

thanks!

[thewilberforces]

How many Eps of this series were there in total?

This stuff's brilliant.

Are there more than 3?

I noticed that this stuff isn't available on dvd, not on amazon anyway.

[CollingsShrine]

there are 6, i'll try and get the other 3 episodes chopped-up and posted soon, but it might not be for a week or so.

[acnomel]

i can't find episodes 4 to 6!please upload them.

[MatthewKeehan]

God, you're brilliant!!!