Can we be classified as contemporary art collectors?

[Mr. Green]

I agree that you can't base an opinion on others' opinions or points of views. I didn't want to mean different. But IMO (), you can't deny that your own interpretations are much influenced by external stimuli. Considering others' opinions/experiences (essays, biographies, narration of events,...personal opinions or points of view) as those stimuli.

What I meant was that by exposing yourself to a wide range of external "realities", you achieve to form/construct a whole new one, influenced of course by others' output, but developed by your own self.

Ok, I can agree to that!

Yea, just don't go out and copy what Jack, the ripper, did. Or emulate a drugie to get a feeling of how its feel. Although its perfectly legal to chew a cocaine leaf in say, Peru; something I would love to try.

 

[JosephCPR]

Ok, I can agree to that!

.

 

[thenammagazine]

I heard prog and 'Nam are secrect lovers, but I dont know if there is any truth to that

I can honestly tell you Prog isn't gay. You couldn't even squeeze your pencil ____ in his tight ass.

But many of the pieces that fall into the art form category today were also hand-made or mass-produced at one time. Someone gave the example of the Ford T and how they are now museum items. That's modern-art, I know but even contemporary art items like the Mauser C96, the Luger P08 (AKA German Luger) and those classic WWII bolt-action sniper or standard rifles or the more recent SVD (Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova) rifle is already in some war/history museums despite bing manufactured en-masse post WII and right till today in newer forms.

Besides, you can't call what SS do mass production for a statue or bust series with 50-1000 pieces. Not to get too technical but I'm not sure that the size of the production runs should be classed more like batch or jobbing production, but certainly not mass. I'm not too sure about the early runs of Bowen Designs that produced over 5,000+ for some statues.

Today, and especially with SideSHow and ARH, their runs are small enough to not be considered mass-produced

Note that I'm not including Hot Toys here as those have far larger production runs, they are actually assembled, with hundreds of individual parts and they don't start from what artists would call "a lump of clay". To keep it simple I'm only including the likes of SS, ARH, BD here; even the goods works of Rommel also fall firmly into this category as well as maybe the "fine art" line of Koto

I'm not trying to criticise what you are saying and thanks for contributing

You completely misread my post. I'm not saying it's not art, just adding light to the quoted post where you were stating that Sideshow's pieces are made by artists. That is inaccurate as they are not. Beit polystone statues or action figures, BOTH are produced on an assembly line. The only difference is that while the bodies of action figures are assembled, the statues are stamped out of a mold. They're then dressed, painted and boxed by said assembly line. Then loaded on a cargo ship and shipped from Asia. As far as mass produced, I'd say anything with a run over 1000 would fall into that category. Oh, and Sideshow has bigger runs than Hot Toys.

Again, the exception would be if you own an Artist's Proof or a Prototype.

 

[FLOSI]

Words are hard

So is my ween.

 

[worstgamerever]

I can honestly tell you Prog isn't gay. You couldn't even squeeze your pencil ____ in his tight ass.



You completely misread my post. I'm not saying it's not art, just adding light to the quoted post where you were stating that Sideshow's pieces are made by artists. That is inaccurate as they are not. Beit polystone statues or action figures, BOTH are produced on an assembly line. The only difference is that while the bodies of action figures are assembled, the statues are stamped out of a mold. They're then dressed, painted and boxed by said assembly line. Then loaded on a cargo ship and shipped from Asia. As far as mass produced, I'd say anything with a run over 1000 would fall into that category. Oh, and Sideshow has bigger runs than Hot Toys.

Again, the exception would be if you own an Artist's Proof or a Prototype.

You raise good points, but I dont think I said SS statues were made or factory-produced by artists. Pray check again.

I was aware that SS pieces come of an assembly line, put in boxes and so on and so forth. What I wasn't aware about is that statues produced in the range of 50-2000 can be classed as mass-produced, especially given that most or all of that process is done by hand, rather than by machine, with parts that are unique to jobs and batches rather than entire lines. Of course I've probably dont know enough about these things...

I also must have misunderstood that artists were involved in this process. Your post suggests that both Hot Toys figures and the SS Polystone statues are too similar to be differentiated, from conception to finished product. Even though the HT figures use one of a few body types and many other standardized parts. Personally I wouldn't class a HT figure as art, due to the standardized true body type and machinery used in the making of its components.

I would class a piece like the Lord of Darkness PF as art on the other hand...

I'm sure a lot of folks would disagree

 

[Karnis]

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Statues, collectors figures, etc are just as much art as any sculpture of tin cans wired together, etc and displayed in a gallery.

 

[thenammagazine]

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Statues, collectors figures, etc are just as much art as any sculpture of tin cans wired together, etc and displayed in a gallery.

Looking at HT's T800 figure and the Sideshow PF, I'd sooner call the figure art before the statue. Especially given the sheer attention to detail and accuracy. In the end though, both are art, regardless of how finely tuned one is over the other. Classifying something art has pretty much become a given, and a broad generalization, since photos of semen in pig's blood and a crucifix in a jar of urine are fetching thousands under that label.

 

[worstgamerever]

Looking at HT's T800 figure and the Sideshow PF, I'd sooner call the figure art before the statue. Especially given the sheer attention to detail and accuracy. In the end though, both are art, regardless of how finely tuned one is over the other. Classifying something art has pretty much become a given, and a broad generalization, since photos of semen in pig's blood and a crucifix in a jar of urine are fetching thousands under that label.

You forgot empty cans of coke; or broken chairs. I've seen both in contemporary art exhibitions

But generalisations and the everything-is art-argument still doesnt help categorize what a SS PF/diorama/comiquette is...

 

[Mister Ski]

You forgot empty cans of coke; or broken chairs. I've seen both in contemporary art exhibitions

But generalisations and the everything-is art-argument still doesnt help categorize what a SS PF/diorama/comiquette is...

Why does it need to be categorized? Call SS PFs/dioramas/comiquettes what you like and to h@ll with what anyone else thinks.

 

[lord_raptor]

is it really that important to know that someone else thinks that collection figures/statues is like collecting art ?
what´s to gain from that assumption ?
if you like it then buy it , display it and be happy with it

 

[Mr. Green]

You forgot empty cans of coke; or broken chairs. I've seen both in contemporary art exhibitions

But generalisations and the everything-is art-argument still doesnt help categorize what a SS PF/diorama/comiquette is...

Man, you still don't have an answer? I would think some of us got the answer handed down for you. There's a certain hierachy:

Art in general(everything fits here) -> Contemporary Art(the now art) -> Pop-Culture(We want em Big, Simple, Alot, and Fast) -> inspired by Movies, Comics, Games, etc.

Don't get mixed up with individual's perception of art too much. "Art is in the eye of the beholder" and "One man's trash is another's treasure" comes to mind.

Who am I kidding, "This is a stick-up, hand over your wallet or else!" I got 12 kids to feed!

 

[Rook]

I'm looking around my room right now, and I don't see "art." I see products. Art is the one-of-a-kind painting that my wife bought that is on display downstairs.

Art is the Mona Lisa. The mass-produced print of the Mona Lisa hanging in a college student's dorm room is a poster.

Art is the statue of David. The mass produced 1:12 statues I've seen in people's homes are souvenirs.

While there's no denying that artistry on the part of some highly gifted artisans went into developing these collectibles, the end product is far from "art."

I'm okay with that. My Skrull Queen LSB has all of the appearance of a classical bust. The fact that it's a mass-produced copy of the original has no bearing on my admiration of it. Viewing a replica of an original work of art can have a similar effect on someone who knows how to appreciate. And I do. So the difference between art and my collectibles is academic.

 

[Mr. Green]

Man, you still don't have an answer? I would think some of us got the answer handed down for you. There's a certain hierachy:

Art in general(everything fits here) -> Contemporary Art(the now art) -> Pop-Culture(We want em Big, Simple, Alot, and Fast) -> inspired by Movies, Comics, Games, etc.

Don't get mixed up with individual's perception of art too much. "Art is in the eye of the beholder" and "One man's trash is another's treasure" comes to mind.

Who am I kidding, "This is a stick-up, hand over your wallet or else!" I got 12 kids to feed!

Dammit, some people beat me to it:

https://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/08/5429838-gun-toting-robbers-steal-100-copies-of-call-of-duty?gt1=43001

 

[Hew]

Is a lot of the stuff that passes for music today actually music, or is it just musical, having musical elements.

I forgot who said it but...if all things are relative then cannibalism would be a matter of taste.

 

[thenammagazine]

Is a lot of the stuff that passes for music today actually music, or is it just musical, having musical elements.

I forgot who said it but...if all things are relative then cannibalism would be a matter of taste.

That's a profoundly correct statement.

 

[worstgamerever]

I'm looking around my room right now, and I don't see "art." I see products. Art is the one-of-a-kind painting that my wife bought that is on display downstairs.

Art is the Mona Lisa. The mass-produced print of the Mona Lisa hanging in a college student's dorm room is a poster.

Art is the statue of David. The mass produced 1:12 statues I've seen in people's homes are souvenirs.

While there's no denying that artistry on the part of some highly gifted artisans went into developing these collectibles, the end product is far from "art."

I'm okay with that. My Skrull Queen LSB has all of the appearance of a classical bust. The fact that it's a mass-produced copy of the original has no bearing on my admiration of it. Viewing a replica of an original work of art can have a similar effect on someone who knows how to appreciate. And I do. So the difference between art and my collectibles is academic.

Oh dear. So if its not expensive then its not art? You and I should take a gander to the London Tate Modern...

Contemporary art pieces arent objet de poisson or the Mona Lisa and they dont need to be; the boundaries of the art form are constantly being pushed and re-defined. Cover pages of Kirby's Fantastic Four 50 and Spider-Man India etc are in galleries from Le Havre to NY and LA. I'm pretty sure if you look well enough, you can still find those TPBs... they arent by any means super-limited

Just because its not the mona lisa or isnt a $100m diamond-encrusted skull by Mr Hirst doesnt mean its not contemporary art.

 

[devilof76]

Could you help me out with something worstgamerever? I avoid academic art professionals like the plague, so I'm pretty much ignorant.

What is the definition of contemporary art? That is, other than art which is produced in the present?

 

[worstgamerever]

Could you help me out with something worstgamerever? I avoid academic art professionals like the plague, so I'm pretty much ignorant.

What is the definition of contemporary art? That is, other than art which is produced in the present?

Well if there's a definition of it other than that then I'm all ears too! But as you might have gathered from this thread, not everyone thinks its so clear-cut. Maybe its not, maybe it is... one way or the other... I couldnt say for sure

I guess thats why I brought the question here.

 

[devilof76]

I've only seen one objective definition of art, ever (and by objective, I mean that it doesn't default to some kind of subjective 'eye of the beholder' answer; I'm not making any comments on the objectivity of the definition itself).

"A selective recreation of reality, according to an artist's metaphysical-value judgements."

By this definition, most modern/post-modern art doesn't qualify. To paraphrase the author of the definition, an object having been made by an artist does not make an object art.

After reading some of the posts after mine (mainly thenammagazine and Rook) I've decided that reproductions don't qualify as art. If the original qualifies as art, then the rest are simply copies of art. I think that's the most that can be said of these statues and figures (unless they've been customized, and according to the standards of the definition I quoted above). They have the effect of art, but are not art themselves.

They're definitely contemporary, though.

 

[Kamandi]

"Can we be classified as contemporary art collectors?"

No two people are going to answer this question the same way for the same reasons. It all depends who you ask.

To the black turtleneck crowd drinking foo-foo coffee and despising all things commercial as "selling out" - they would tell you "No". You're buying a somewhat mass produced item. Your collection hovers somewhere near Thomas Kincaid paintings on the hate scale.

There are other people who would tell you art is anything that speaks to you on an emotional level. (To me geeking out qualifies as an emotional response.) Those people would answer "yes". Of course, some of them have antique machine parts hanging on their walls at home.

I find it's usually a bad move in life asking other people to validate your behaviors and interests. It gives them a power over you. In the end the only opinion that should matter is your own. If you like your collection, if you feel it's art, that's good enough.