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Rating: 
Summary: ART (?)
Review: In 1993, when CULTURE OR TRASH was published, James Gardner was the art critic for "The National Review." Early in the book, he describes a three week art extravaganza which was being held in a very upscale (read expensive) San Francisco Art Gallery. When each guest arrived, he or she was met by a uniformed waiter and offered a cup of coffee to drink while browsing in the gallery. The coffee was served in a simple white cup and cream was poured from a similarly simple white cream pitcher. What most of the guests didn't know, and never were to know, was that they were a part of the art, a performance piece entitled "Garcon." That was it, three weeks of the "artist" pouring about three hundred cups of coffee. Because the cream pitcher had been used in an "artistic performance," and because it had been touched by a "famous" avante-garde artist, it became a "relic." It was labeled, encased in glass, and was last seen on the secondary market bearing a price tag of $24,000. It's rather frightening to realize that we live in an age in which people will pay that much money for a dime store cream pitcher as long as it comes with assurances that it has been touched by a name artist.That's the premise. Are we dealing with culture or art? Along the path to his conclusions, Gardner gives several good, succinct definitions of various 20th century art and architectural trends such as "Modernism" and "Postmodernism." Modernism: Most Modernists never set out to be something called a Modernist. They just wanted to make art in their own way, and then, one bright shiny day, someone told them they were Modernists. Postmodernism: In contrast, it is critically important to a Postmodernist that he be so identified. He defines himself by what he is not. First and foremost, he is not a Modernist. He is in fact an Anti-modernist. As long as a work of art rejects Modernism, it is Postmodernism. A sculpture of plastic vomit: They weren't doing that 15 years ago, so it's Postmodernism. Three basketballs floating in a water filled aquarium: They weren't doing that 15 years ago, either, so it also qualifies. Although Postmodernism is at the core of his discussion, he includes discussions of most of the other 20th century schools such as Minimalism, Contemporary Art, etc. What is revealing, according to Gardner, is that there are so many artists producing this stuff, so many agents representing them, so many galleries and museums showing this "art," and, most surprisingly of all, so many people willing to shell out very large sums of money to own and display it. As part of his answer to the question that is contained in the title, Gardner states: "Postmodernism is . . . . the reduction to absurdity of this artistic rebelliousness . . . . rebelliousness pursued for its own sake." He concludes by stating his belief that there will be a cultural regeneration, and that he hopes that it will come sooner, rather than later. I, for one, share that hope.
Rating: 
Summary: Let the painful truth about contemporary art be told.
Review: James Gardner's "Culture or Trash?" is a well-written, intelligent, and well-placed criticism of the twisted, ill-conceived, and philosophically indefensible practices of the Western "art world." Just as relevant today as when it was published six years ago, any dyed-in-the-wool bohemian who can muster the guts to read this one all the way through will doubtlessly suffer much cognitive dissonance, as page by page, cherished art world illusions are stripped bare. Gardner's reading of the human motives hiding behind the ridiculous pretensions of "Postmodernism" are deadly accurate, and his book should be required reading in the art schools of America. There are, however, a few small problems with this book; first, Gardner's praise for artists Agnes Martin and Pat Steir, I think, is misplaced, and second, Gardner gives us a lengthy and accurate description of today's art world, but unfortunately, only whispers about how it got that way. A similar (and shorter) book that I also enjoyed was Tom Wolfes "The Painted Word."
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