I was asked to display a model at a local retail outlet… The manager asked me how to spell my last name so he could list me as the “artist”…
I have been tossing this around in my head for the last day or so and it is prompting me to ask this question…
With the level of ability some “Master” model builders have, is it concievable that we will someday see plastic models displayed in museums/galleries, not as reference pieces, but actual works of art??? These items commanding thousands of dollars to be bought and sold the same as a painting???
Will we be watching a future movie star/celebrity on television bragging about how they have 3 “Brett Greens” or “Chris Wauchops” on display???
I have been wondering about this and I am curious how others feel…[:I]
I cannot speak to the term “typically”, but at the local National Museum of Naval Aviation, the majority of the models (80% or more) are unique displays in and of themselves. They are not there as part of another exhibit or as part of a theme (other than naval aviation).
Sure it’s art.
I am an artist, my medium is plastic.
Just go look at any “art” gallery.
Now you tell me that dung, paint or some used kitchen spoon put on canvas, is “art.”
Picaso? Man that guy had some serious problems and he’s considered a great artist, (obviously not by me or 10 million 5 year olds that do the same thing every day on paper.)
What is Art? Dunno, but I do know that artist is over used. .
Model building using a kit, even with aftermarket pieces, is not an art. At least not to me. More like paint by numbers. It is something that is assembled. That is not to take away from the talents displayed in building the kit, spending hours researching the proper colour of seat or switch shape and how many rivets are on a Spitfire. Master Model Builder Bgrigg would suit me just fine. Hey! I can dream can’t I?
Same with playing a song on a piano doesn’t make me an artist, only a piano player. I might be an excellent piano player (I’m not, I play guitar), but until I create the music myself, I am not an artist. Mozart was the artist, not me.
Scratchbuilding a model that is not available in kit form, IS an art, and my hat is off to those with the skill, patience, talent and endurance to complete the project.
sure its an artform, its just that most people havent come to see it as that. then again, most people just thought that modern art was junk([:D][:-^]) or a poor attempt by an amateur to make art, yet now modern art is widely accepted. it just needs time, thats all…
in my opinion yes. to take a kit throw some glue on and then say done may not be but to take the building to the level most here on this forum has then yes. i believe that type of building is an artform.
This discussion really hinges on your definition of “art” and therefore is a very difficult discussion.
My definition of art is that it is a piece of work that deliveres a certain message/feeling/thought intended by the artist.
Within that definition , a model can be a work of art. But this has no direct link with the workmanship.
I would say it is an artform, but not to the degree that painting is. Most great works of art are strictly from the imagination and interpretation of reality. However, a lot of model builders are quite anal to make a REPRODUCTION of a real thing. It is still an art form, however I do not consider it to be art.
My My, aren’t we getting phlisophical? I’m almost tearing up reading this thread. I don’t know the answer to the question (is there one?), but IMHO it takes some measure of artistic talent to create a really appealing plastic model. Some of the members in this forum have it, others don’t-but we have fun with it whatever our “artistic” abilities are.
An “art” is 1) any skill acquired by experience, study, or observation, 2) the conscious use of skill and crative imagination esp. in the production of aesthetic objects, also the works so produced (thank you Webster)
An “artform” is any recognized form or medium of artistic expression (again, thank you Webster)
The problem with defining “art” is that many people have a preconception that only the traditional “fine arts” qualify as true art. These are the areas we are all familiar with such as music, painting, literature, poetry, and sculpture. However, over the years, many other areas are now being recognized as art and nearly as fine art. For example, furniture making and gourmet cooking are almost to the point where they are qualifying as fine arts.
Scale modeling from a kit is most definitely not a “fine art”. Scratch-building is in fact a miniature sculpture, completely created by the modeler, and therefore is most definitely “fine art”. But in the strictest sense of the meaning of “art” and “artform”, modeling in any form is a bonafide display of acquired skills and talents to produce an aesthetic item. In my book, that qualifies it as art. Maybe not “fine art” in the traditional sense, but still art.
My 1.5 cents:
I was mulling this idea over in my head a few days ago and came to the conclusion that the amount of skill that it takes to airbrush a complex camoflage pattern, carve a replacement engine nacelle, paint a figure, or whatever require a certain touch ( that I am lacking) to do right. I consider this art or at least artistic talent. Having said that you will probably never see a Phil Brandt at the Gugenheim because that sort of art rarely involves a high degree of photo-realism. Now if you took a B-36 fuselage and stuck 11 wings on it at odd angles, coated it with a liberal dose of poop, orange paint, and stuck a desecrated religious icon on it you might be onto something…
what’s so funny about what I said. This is a question of interpretation, and obviously, all of us here being modelers, we are prone to have a somewhat biased opinion.
In any case, this is a question that’s been asked on these forums lots of times, and each time it’s the exact same string of replies. Is it an art/artform. IMHO, yes to a degree. Is it fine art, hell no. Someone brought up the argument that finished pieces are going for extravagant prices. The fact that someone is willing to pay big bucks for a finished product does not in any way make that product a work of art, it merely makes it a work of art to those willing to pay for it. The relative cost involved in producing something does not increase its artistic value. Either way, it’s a pointless debate. I do think that models have their own place within the artistic genre of existence, why try to classify it within borders that are too limiting for the medium.
This debate comes up every few months. I don’t consider building a kit or painting a figure " Art ", but I do consider it a "Craft " that requires some degree of artistic talent.
I think the figure painter who can make a very realistic looking face that conveys emotion or a mood is definitely an artist. I think kit building where you are using shading and highlighting (not simple reproduction of colors), borders on art. I think the scratchbuilder who is using advanced painting techniques is an artist.
I think it all depends on the level you bring this hobby to.