Kunst Art
Stefan Sagmeister
Sagmeister: Art is now probably even more a reflection of our society than it has ever been in the past. Throughout history art has often concentrated on the story of the rulers, be that in Egypt, the Mayans or the Venetians. I feel art - be that contemporary visual art or literature, film, architecture or design, does a very good job in reflecting the state of our society today.
Contemporary art represents right now a niche product for a comparatively small audience. Even in New York City, where contemporary art arguable plays a large role then in other place in the world, the famous Museum of Modern Art is only the 4th most visited museum. One could argue that because contemporary art is often collected by very rich people, it does have an influence on the very powerful. I doubt many artists would be happy with this line of thinking.
That would depend on how we define art: If we mean the contemporary art market, I would say no. If we use a more inclusive definition and call upon visual culture in general, meaning also fashion and magazines and TV shows and product design and interfaces, then absolutely!
As machines continue to take on more purely functional work, my guess would be that very human and non-functional expressions will become more important.
Hmm, I really have no idea. And nothing interesting to say about that.
There are minor movements coming up here and there but the time for large groups of artists working in a similar direction such as ‘abstract expressionism’ or ‘cubism’ seems to be over for now.
As always, the visual world will mostly be influenced by new technologies. This was the case with the invention of new tools and mediums such as the chisel or fresco, the development of the printing press and photography as well as the digital world. My guess - and my guesses were often wrong in the past - would be that gaming, VR and AI will have a big influence.
As mentioned, art and money (or power) have always mixed historically. Places that were fruitful for artists such as Amsterdam throughout the Dutch Golden Age or Venice through the Renaissance were extremely wealthy and could afford to offer full-time employment of artists.
The fact that there is a lot of money in the contemporary art market allows many more artists to make a living. As in other fields - unfortunately - the largest part of that money goes to relatively few artists on the very top.
Yes. Many museums I am aware of are in the process of reordering their collection as well as their focus for special exhibits: What used to be a concentration on European art is now widened into a much more international direction, placing their holdings from Asia, Africa and South America more centrally and adding to omissions.
In general, we tend to like the things we know something about. If we are completely unfamiliar with a certain style, culture or artistic expression, we wont be able to understand it.
This is difficult but possible: I’d say Alex Katz would be a good example, successfully creating simplified realistic images in a time when most of the art world finds that unfashionable.
History is good at creating these standards as with the advantage of hindsight we can often see clearer who created what and when as well as which directions proofed to be important and influential over time.
My favorite definition about the difference between art and design comes from Donald Judd who said: Design has to work. Art does not. He means that art really does not have to do anything, it can just be. I think for many of us as viewers this comes as a relief: We can enjoy something that does nothing.
As mentioned before, my guess it will become - in a world that has to function more and more, more important.
The death of painting, the end of print and the annihilation of art itself has been suggested many times over the past decades. Neither d-jays nor people involved in recycling themes and images will kill art or design.
From a visitor’s point of view I see art as a wonderful universe I can visit together with a friend in long gallery tours through, Tribeca, Chelsea and the Lower East Side of Manhattan and discuss it while we are both looking at it. The possibility to see an individual world created by an artist and the comparison it might have to my own world yields the potential to enrich my life.
Absolutely! I have deeply felt opinions on what is good and what is bad art. Sometimes I change my mind when I know more about a certain artist or a particular piece.
Stefan Sagmeister is from the Austrian city of Bregenz. In the late 1980s, he studied graphic design at the Pratt Institute in New York as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts, he began his eventful career as a designer at the advertising agency Leo Burnett in Hong Kong in 1991. He returned to the Big Apple a few years later and founded his own agency, Sagmeister Inc., where his design work covered various types of media. The company made a name for itself above all in designing album covers. Notable works include the album illustrations for Bridges to Babylon (Rolling Stones), Set the Twilight Reeling and Ecstasy (Lou Reed) and Nine Lives (Aerosmith). Sagmeister’s work has so far earned him six Grammy nominations, and he has won the coveted music award twice. In addition to giants of the music industry, his clients also include renowned companies such as BMW, Ben & Jerry’s and Levi’s.