This is a project where I pay workers on Amazon's Mechanical Turk to review my art and website and pay them $5 for 500 words. This is the 51st review I've received.
I have to admit
that I’m not the most savvy or knowledgeable person when it comes to art. There
are some artist names and works that I’ve seen and heard about while watching
TV, such as Rembrandt, Gough and Picasso. I’ve also draw sketches occasionally
in my free time so I am familiar with some simple techniques such as shading
and cross hatching. With that out of the way, when I came across Paul Shortt’s
art website, it was not what I was expecting. My first impression of Paul
Shortt’s art was that it was just a bunch of random photographs and if this was
art, well then anyone could do this. There didn’t seem to be much thought put
into the stuff on the website. I watched his breakdown video under the “It’s
Simple, But Complicated,” category and it just looked like a ticked off lunatic
flipping people off. Who was he flipping off, anyway? There were no other cars
on the road or people in the video. Maybe it was his subtle way off saying
‘fuck you,’ to the world for screwing him over so many times. I even glanced
through the “5 Star Ratings” art reviews to try to get some perspective, but it
all felt fake and manufactured knowing that these people wouldn’t have give
this website one look if they weren’t being paid to do so. On the other hand,
the same could be said for me. A bit frustrated and confused with what I had
seen so far, I decided would come back to it another day. After browsing
through the website and not really understanding how the content on it could be
categorized as art, I considered that maybe I was viewing these pieces from the
wrong point of view. I didn’t consider his works “art” because I didn’t see
anything technically pleasing or aesthetically appealing. However, after
mulling over my thoughts and looking through more of his work, I came to the
conclusion that his art had a social aspect to it. I think Paul Shortt’s art
looks to connect people emotionally and socially and when I interpreted his
works in that manner I was able to understand how earlier reviewers could
classify these projects as art. One piece that resonated particularly with me
was under “The Car My Father Gave Me.” I particularly enjoyed the video where
Paul Shortt’s father is going through all the cars he had owned throughout his
lifetime. I particularly liked how the video was shot with the close-up of the
pictures of the cars and the most you can see of Paul Shortt’s father is his
left hand. As I watched the video, I felt as though I was right beside Paul
Shortt’s father as he described the story behind each car he had owned. It was
as if I was living through part of his life as he detailed all those vehicles.
Another piece I enjoyed looking through and did a great job of capturing
emotional and social connections was “Modern Greetings.” It was interesting to
see people try out these goofy and whimsical ways of addressing one another.
The greetings brought a bit of lightheartedness to the act of welcoming a
person and, at least I feel, refines the age old tradition of the handshake.
Overall, I am glad I decided to take this assignment on and feel that it
empowers the average person to go out there and create their own art.
For more info on this project please check out my website: http://paulshortt.com/Pay-For-An-Audience-5-Star-Ratings
