is what we do Art ?

[tigercat]

sorry for coming over all philosophical but I was thinking does  modelling  qualify as art it is definitely  a craft but some of people's models in here wouldn't look out of place in a museum or used on a film set . Where is the dividing line and does the act of creating something new from other kits rather than painting it out of the box make a difference .

If you go to maritime museums you'll see models of ships that are beautifully crafted   and in military museums you'll see familiar kits from airfix and matchbox .

I have a particular fondness for the air field construction diorama they have at Hendon .
Where does modelling fall do people think ?

[Dizzyfugu]

It's a similar question whether eSports or car races qualify as sports...

Personally, I think that outsiders regard model kit building as a kind of craftmanship, since "serious modelers" and the media that promote them focus on details, finish and rather on the end result than the path to it.

However, I consider whif kit building to be more creative - if that qualifies it for being artistic. Whifs are fictional things, may even have made-up background stories, the sky is the limit. This boundlessness is hard for many people to accept, since the traditional framework for evaluation is lacking.

Whiffing is scary and subversive. So it qualifies well as an artform. 

[JayBee]

My thoughts on this are that "Art" is more to do with the mental processes that create the idea of what is to come.
If the artist can also produce the finished article good and well, but consider those who did not have such great physical skills.
The Impressionist painters were not into great detail, their end results were the overall effect/vision.
Picasso and Dali, their painting skills, while OK, were not so great, but the works they produced realy twist the mind of the viewer.

So, is what we do Art. I sincerely believe so.

[Old Wombat]

The technical aspects of what we do are a craft-based skill set, often with a touch of the science of engineering thrown in.

The creative & imaginative processes are artistic; whether it be a simple scheme modification, a small change in the design or a complete scratch-build.

The ability to see what isn't & to give it form is Art. Coincidentally, so is the ability to take what you see before you & create a replica in another medium.

Therefore all modelling is Art, it's just the style & skill levels that vary.

[The Rat]

Art is entirely subjective. If I want to scrawl some random lines in a wall with crayons and call it art, then it is, to me and whoever else wants to look at it and read some sort of meaning into it.

[PR19_Kit]

However, I consider whif kit building to be more creative - if that qualifies it for being artistic. Whifs are fictional things, may even have made-up background stories, the sky is the limit. This boundlessness is hard for many people to accept, since the traditional framework for evaluation is lacking.

Whiffing is scary and subversive. So it qualifies well as an artform. 

I'm 100% in agreement with that opinion Thomas, especially the 'subversive' bit.   

[Rheged]

Short answer YES of course it is.

Like Kit,   I'm in total agreement with Dizzy's definition Whiffing is scary and subversive. So it qualifies well as an artform.

[tigercat]

/quote]

Here here

[McColm]

Yes it is an art, I consider myself as a kit bodger rather than a skilled model maker.

[zenrat]

If Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" was art, then everything we do here definitely is.

[Dizzyfugu]

Short answer YES of course it is.

Like Kit,   I'm in total agreement with Dizzy's definition Whiffing is scary and subversive. So it qualifies well as an artform.

Thank you. I think that questioning the status quo - or rising troubling questions or doubts - is a serious quality of art (of any kind). Whiffing can actually achieve this by design, a "normal" model probably not. It's about testing and stretching boundaries, leaving the comfort zone, and expanding the universe with your own ideas. In certain limits for sure, but this creative push that "makes it more than a carbon copy" is for my taste close to original art.

[Weaver]

I'd dispute that art has to be 'scary and subversive' and question the status quo. That's a post-modernist view and not all art is post-modernist. By that standard, terrorism would qualify as art, since it's certainly 'scary and subversive' and seeks to overturn the status quo, while a painting of a peaceful landscape wouldn't qualify, since it is and does none of those things.

I definitely agree with the general sentiment that whiffing is art though. It's certainly creative, since it's all about expressing an idea in a communicable form, and it's transformative of the raw materials to a greater degree than is necessary to qualify as 'fine art' (think of Tracy Emin's unmade bed, for example).

Kris Kuksi (best know for his church-tanks) is a fine artist, and he used kit parts extensively. Calling it 'kit-bashing' might be a stretch, but the techniques are recognisable:




Kuksi's website (well worth a long look): https://www.kuksi.com/

[zenrat]

I love his works.
So much detail.

[Weaver]

I love his works.
So much detail.

Indeed. I have in mind a project to do something Kuksi-esque as a Chaos Engineer's Scaling Ship from Michael Moorcock's War Amongst The Angels.

[Steel Penguin]

as said above, the short answer is yes! it is art.
the longer version is slightly more philosophical,   If you believe it to be art, and / or the person viewing it thinks it is art, it is art.