Celebrating The Ugly
“We are a product of evolution on Earth. Evolution promises us one thing: Variation. Variation in how we appear; how we think; how we behave. Everything about being ugly and beautiful lies in this fact. This variation allows us to have preferences, likes, and dislikes.”{1} This however has taught us to judge and categorise items in extremes which in terms of ugly and beautiful, especially in art, now serves no purpose.
Try this exercise: Turn to someone nearby and try to explain to them what “ugly” is, try to define “beauty”. Not as easy as it sounds?
When you start to unravel and explore these two commonly used words they begin to lose sense and you start to question whether the words ugly or beautiful can even exist. They certainly shouldn’t be seen as being on opposing sides and instead live on a spectrum that spans into infinite directions.
“For the bulk of human history, artists have been far more concerned with beauty and the heavens than the ugly and the earthly. Ugliness was used as shorthand for spiritual damnation.”{2} Even now, after millennia of image making, many people still avoid what is traditionally viewed as ugly and try even harder not to hang these creations on their walls.
But why? Why are we so determined to avoid pain, to avoid fear and doom in Art. Who are we that we shouldn’t feel hurt, squeamish or uncomfortable as we stare at a piece. These emotions that surge in us are just as wonderful and exhilarating as any other feeling.
“There’s a sense of brazenness to unintentionally bad art — it embodies desire gone awry. And being able to enjoy ugly art isn’t simply about making fun of it. It’s also about being able to sit in discomfort and recognize mistakes. Ugly art demands a sense of looseness; it asks you to dip into a slippery state of mind where you can hold multiple beliefs simultaneously. The piece can be both ugly and unappealing, and it can also delight and appeal for those very reasons. It can pull you closer — you want to know why this ugly art was made, what it means, and what the artists were thinking. And if you let yourself get unbalanced enough, you might just find yourself a little bit in love.”{3}
1.https://cognitiontoday.com/beautiful-science-of-ugliness.../
2.https://www.theparisreview.org/.../ugliness-is.../
3.https://www.theparisreview.org/.../ugliness-is.../
1.Robert Nava | Unknown
2.Dana Schutz | Face Eater
3.Luis Campos | Garden of Delete
