"I don't think art should be fun"
now contemplate that for a second

this was said by a professor of mine a few weeks ago just before I finnished a class.

I asked 'why not'

his repsone: what a stupid premise.

so here enlies the debate...

can a form of expression, be it music, painting, poetry, film, be 'fun'
can artistic expression be fun and still be thought provoking, or does it have to be cumbersome and heavy to be considered legitimate.

or is there any harm in just enjoying something for what it is, just dumb fun... like Kiss.

I bet he doesnt have sex for a loooong time.

I've been thinking about something and it fits the topic.

The more I watch it, the more I consider Arrested Development to be one of the greatest works of art of the last decade, if not the last half-century. It's a sitcom, and it's fun, but it's also stupendously good. So there's nothing wrong with art being fun.

of course it can be fun.

if music wasnt fun I wouldn't play guitar and definatly wouldnt write, which is where i spend most of my fun timeee

You know... when I was in my early 20s, I took a number of art classes at the Mass College of Art (which, incidentally, is one of the only state funded art schools on the east coast, but that's not important here). It's a good art school, and they tend to use professional artists as instructors whenever the opportunity arises, so the students can get a first hand account of what it's 'like' being an artist.

anyway, because of it's specialization, there was a larger than normal group of kids who fell into that clichéd pattern of behavior and dress that at this point, is what I guess is now considered 'goth' or maybe a mix of goth and emo? whatever- they were a group of kids who dressed almost exclusively in black, who made a real effort of staying removed from society, and who were always attempting to be ironic and cynical about people and culture around them that wasn't like them - as in- the rest of the world.

They felt, to some extent, that this was the best way to express their vision as artists, and to obtain 'depth' and 'meaning' and god only knows what else.

That's what this art teacher mentioned in the first post reminds me of- someone who is making an effort to struggle through life, and be as different from the rest of the world as possible in some pathetic attempt to gain meaning- which to me, is retarded.

It was retarded then when I watched these kids at Mass Art, and it's retarded now, reading about a teacher that says art isn't supposed to be fun.

Here's the deal with art... to me.

Art is a reflection of the world in which we live.
The job of the artist in a society is to observe the world around him/her, and to mix that in whatever way with what goes on in their own head, then spit it out for the rest of the world to see, and hopefully to glean something from that expression that gives each person something more of the world around them than when they first started out.

That includes joy, and happiness and fun too, that includes all of it, the whole fucking ball of wax, and any teacher that tells you different is only expressing their own view rather than trying to teach their students to express themselves freely and without constraint- which is, after all, what art is supposed to be about.

so to this teacher, as to the kids from Mass Art, I say: good luck, you'll need it since your appalling lack of perspective will keep you in a small little expressive box for the rest of your life.

anyone who has ever executed a perfect physical movement, say a triple pirouette en pointe (ballet) can tell you that art can be fun.

it is not only fun, at its finest, art is exiharating and breathtaking.

this art teacher has no joy, and that is sad to me.

It needs to be fun for you to keep wanting to do it. As soon as it isn't fun, and you're just going through the motions because you have to, I don't see how you could do anything as good as you did before.

That said, I don't think it can be 100% about fun either, if you're taking something seriously. The key is to strike a balance. Fun is pften very important in art, I would say.

When I’ve written a great line, description, or verse (which is very rare) I can say that few things are as intoxicating and exciting as that moment. So yes, art is fun and fuck off to anyone who says differently.

You think Fitzgerald was writing in some non-descript hovel before he died because he was masochistic?

so if it's not supposed to be fun, what exactly does he think he should be?

If you follow the word "art" with the phrase "should be" or "shouldn't be" anything, you are misunderstanding what art actually is. It is pretty much by nature entirely subjective, so ANYTHING can be art. And it can bring any emotion. The creation or expression of it is not limited in any way. You can't put a "should be" or "shouldn't be" on art. You can have OPINIONS about art, but never absolutes.

I think your professor, if he really meant what he said, is doing a disservice to himself as a teacher. Those kinds of comments are meant to close minds, not open them.

Truth.

erm, well. if art isn't fun, i guess i should probably quit doing most everything i do. i have been tricked into thinking i've been having a good time!

thank you

I agree with you whole heartedly.

I think ultimately his intesnt was to make the point that:
make people think... increase their sentience
= art

but to him art+fun=work+catholosicm=fun