The reason why artists make art is because the current state of affairs is simply not good or interesting enough. Understanding what else is possible through forms of expression is how art renews the feeling that there must be better ways to do things. This is why the greatest works tend to feel otherworldly, even though they may be as simple and down the earth as a painting of apples on a wooden table. They are composed of things we're all familiar with but they're made in such a way that they seem to follow another set of rules entirely if they follow any rules at all. Real freedom feels alien at first and hard to comprehend. The art I admire most is the kind I understand the least
What is the role of contemporary art museums today? Are biennales and art fairs platforms for experiment and exchange, or little more than social attractions for the elite? Have collectors become the new curators? Are private and corporate interests in culture at odds with the public good? And ultimately, who is art for? In this debate recorded in Hong Kong in 2012, award-winning documentary film-maker, author and art critic, Ben Lewis, and Hong Kong-born artist, Paul Chan, spoke for the motion. Former Director of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, and conceptual art pioneer, Joseph Kosuth, spoke against the motion. Our chair was the writer, art market expert and author, Georgina Adam.
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