vince’s ear

Thought you’ve seen everything, haven’t you? Check out this video I stumbled across of elephants who were trained to paint.

When I first heard about this, I expected random Pollock-esque splatters of paint on the canvases or the animals holding a brush in their trunks and making random brush strokes. But see for yourself, these elephants are actually painting. Elephants are a very intelligent animal, capable of grief, self awareness, empathy, compassion and even altruism. They can play, use tools, have an excellent memory and can be trained to make music (elephant orchestras) so it’s no surprise they can make art, as seen above.

In 1997 elephant experts teamed up with artists to create an elephant art academy to raise money and awareness. They taught the animals to hold the brushes and create lines or dots on parts of the canvas to produce pictures, many of which were abstract, but some resemble objects such as flowers and even self portraits. Other times the elephants were allowed to paint how they chose, which resulted in truly abstract and original art which is also sold at auctions.

This reminds me of Koko, the gorilla who could speak sign language, who, along with other gorillas, can create art with finger painting. They are able to distinguish colors and surprising even attach emotional value to them, for instance making a predominantly red painting and calling it, “anger.” You also may remember Tillamook Cheddar, the dog whose painting sales were making the owner quite happy.

Some argue the authenticity of the elephants paintings which is why in the Thailand group seen in the video, paintings are made before a crowd so there can be no doubt. I’ve seen videos where a baby’s arm was shown finger painting, which was obviously the parent holding the arm off screen to paint the picture. In this video I see no such foolery, and certain “myth buster” websites have confirmed its authenticity.

After reading some of the comments to the video some people argued against the captivation and training of elephants. Unfortunately these days it seems there can be no safer place for this beautiful dying species than in the care of professionals and veterinarians in wildlife refuges and zoos across the world. The artwork created by the elephants is sold or auctioned off, sometimes bringing in up to $25,000 at auction houses such as Christies. All of the money goes to the preservation of the elephants, whose numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate.

They may not be able to make truly creative works of art but can be trained to reproduce the same paintings over and over. If you think about it, that is our own situation on a much smaller scale in terms of most of the art we create, as well any other specializations in our jobs and every day life.

Elephants can paint and make artwork time and again. You have no excuse!

This is just amazing abstract art, isn’t it? It’s reminiscent of Cy Twombly but much, much better. The picture above has hung in a gallery in Brooklyn, New York. If it had hung in a gallery in Old City, Philadelphia, it probably would have gotten the same praise as it did in New York. I can hear it now:

“It speaks to me.”

“Just fabulous,” [as they swish their wine in their plastic cups.]

“Genius, pure genius. Just look how the artist has made such an intellectual statement. The vibrant reds are so emotional, it reduces us to a warm and fuzzy art snob glob of goo just staring at it.”

“I go to art school.”

“This artist is better than any new millennium abstract painter, and certainly better than Cy Twombly and other such scribble artists.”

Of course nobody told them who the artist is, and they probably didn’t read the info on the painting or the “artist’s statement” if any. Mostly, they were interested in hearing themselves talk, giving their avant-garde critique while wearing their berets and scarves.

I’ll give them the fact that the artist above is better than Cy Twombly. Also it is true that the artist has made much more an intellectual statement than any of these folk are capable of giving, and the artwork is done with more skill and the outcome produced is more aesthetically pleasing than any of them are capable of. But only if they knew who painted it:

A DOG!

Yeah it fooled them as I’m sure it fooled most of you. A dog painted this, and sure, for a canine it’s great. I amend my statement- for any abstract artist it’s great! I would die laughing if this little trick was played on the real people who hang around Old City on 2nd street and frequent the First Friday exhibits.

Not everybody is like this, don’t get me wrong- and the art shown is wonderful. It’s just the talentless spectators who cram into these galleries and look down their noses at people. Most are just interested in themselves and couldn’t care less about the art on the walls. But then again, I mostly don’t want to hear their b.s. about the art anyway: “It speaks to me!” It speaks does it? What does it say? It’s a canvas splattered with pink paint selling for $4,000. It doesn’t speak, it screams- “bad taste and overpriced!”

What gets me is that any dog or gorilla could accomplish most of what’s being paraded around as “modern art.” The minimalists of the ’50s were making a statement. They said since art history has been a constant reduction, why not skip straight to zero. That’s funny, and interesting, and they were the first to do it. Some art student today who paints a canvas blue and tries to sell it is not funny, or original, or talented. They may be talented otherwise, but splattering paint or making a blank canvas is not talent, and it’s not art. It’s been done!

I read an article the other day about how art has never really been representational and it’s actually always been abstract. I beg to differ. Since hieroglyphics, and cave art, people have always represented reality in recognizable ways. In ancient Eastern writing, the word for house looks like a little house. (I don’t speak or write in the languages, but you catch my drift.)

Art can be decoration, or can be a symbolic statement of some sort. And, risking getting away from my statement here, I will say abstract certainly has it’s place. Kandinsky comparing art to music is fantastic. He was a genius, and his art is beautiful. You can hear the symphonies and harmony while looking at his vibrant colors and shapes. His art had meaning, as does most of the art of the early abstract artists of the 20th century. Just don’t paint a canvas blue and call it, “A walk in the park while pondering the universe,” and think it’s art.

Even Jackson Pollock said most of his attempts have failed when splattering his paint. Some paintings turned out great and showed real energy and made a statement in force. Other times they just looked like paint splattered on a linen canvas on the floor.

So call it what it is. And don’t call it what it isn’t. Kudos to the art students who really come out with great art. Just don’t think that all art is abstract these days. If the underlining principle behind what the minimalists were saying was true, then art has already reached zero and it’s time to pack up and go home. There isn’t anything left to do. But that simply isn’t true.

If anything, abstraction is the fad. It was a trendy fashionable rage that had it’s time. It’s over now- get over it. But don’t despair. If you cannot paint, paid thousands of dollars for art school and you have no talent, then your paint splatters won’t get you far anyway. But if you have real talent, then create beautiful art. Forget about trends and fashions, and just paint.

If you sit down at a bar and order a “single plum floating in perfume, served in a man’s hat,” then you are a pretentious art snob and you will probably purchase that $4,000 pink blob. You will show all your friends at your cocktail parties and they will call you a genius. The trendy talentless art system needs you. So, give it your support.

If you are a paint splattering art student, study Tillie Cheddar the dog’s artwork. You could learn a thing or two!

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