Seven Days in the Art World

I very much enjoyed Seven Days in the Art World, by Sarah Thornton, which gives one chapter each for investigations of seven manifestations of contemporary art.   Only one individual artist – Takashi Murakami, a good choice for several reasons, and only one magazine, ArtForum International, probably the only choice.

But as important as art is to me, and as much of my time and energy as it consumes, I’d find this book about as interesting if it were as well written but treated animal husbandry or sports cars instead.  This is art for the 1%, and it’s mainly about wealth and exclusivity.  For truth and beauty, look elsewhere.  For the ineffable, go eff yourself.

There’s also very little about putting brush to canvas or chisel to marble, but I guess that’s all right; there are plenty of books extant about those things.  I have most of a roomful myself, there under that pile of discarded canvas and paper.

What makes Thornton’s book valuable is her background and her attitude.  She has a good formal education in art history and sociology, and she has an investigative reporter’s aggressive curiosity.  I don’t think it’s insulting to note that she has useful protective coloration:  attractive young women in great clothes and spike heels can walk into places where balding overweight sf writers couldn’t even get arrested.  (Well, maybe I could get arrested, in the same outfit.)

I read it a chapter at a time over a longish period, leaving it home when I travelled.  Perhaps it’s less overwhelming that way.  And I was happy to put it down, every now and then, and pick up a brush or a pencil to work out some of the controlled excitement and wry amusement that the book radiates.

Joe