Week One

To be honest, my current understanding of what avant-garde means is almost entirely based off of what can be learned from Calvin and Hobbes. This particular strip gave me what I considered to be a definition of avant-garde: art that isn’t liked by the public and is secretly (or not so secretly) criticizing those who don’t “appreciate” it. 

I knew there had to be more to this “avant-garde” stuff, and if you read Calvin and Hobbes then you know that plenty of strips involving snowmen provide a generic idea of avant-gardism.  Basically, what Calvin and his snowart taught me was that avant-garde states a point of view (though it may not be particularly straight forward), demands reactions from people, and tries to bring about change by challenging standards and even insulting those who value tradition instead of originality. It sees itself as above all else because it is saying something. 

I also had this idea of the avant-garde artist being one with a rebellious, annoying teenager complex where they are always questioning and never accepting – and usually complaining. They also would have to be exceptionally well-educated, because you cannot properly complain or comment on society or culture if you do not know everything about it. This first grader and his stuffed tiger seemed to know a lot about how our culture works, but that is what made it successful, I think.

I think the main thing that is “challenging” about Manet’s “Le Dejuner sur l’Herbe” is the first impression it gives is that of a narrative or a snapshot of a recognizable scene.  There are people, which give the sense of a narrative, and it even has titles that make the image sound relatable to an average person. You assume it will make sense and you will be able to put things together and line them up in an orderly way inside your mind. But then you cannot. There is not a satisfactory train of thought for the viewer to recognize and follow.  The subject matter is too difficult to relate to after all – and therefore incomprehensible. The technicalities and style also does not relate well to our three-dimensional minds and irritates the part of our brains that wants to read a painting as an attempt at reality. Manet’s painting does not allow us to pretend the two-dimensional image is three-dimensional. Viewing this painting, especially amidst its contemporaries, is like a friend convincing you they have the most hilarious joke in the world and then tell you a joke without a punch line. Your initial reaction is to want to slap them.  But it is almost guaranteed that after you hear that joke so many times, you will think it is hilarious too.  It might take a while, but eventually it is understandable that the lack of punch line is the punch line. You expect one thing and get another, which is very frustrating on the receiver’s end, but the deliverer will get a kick out of it.  That is what avant-garde is: a product meant to persuade you through confusion to make the artist feel good.