Colin Gilbert

After 70 "days", I decided that taking a year to finish wasn't for me. It wasn't bad, but prospective readers need to understand that this is a collection of 365 snapshots, condensed and simplified. I found the authors rather culturally or hemispherically myopic - pretty much focused entirely on Western art. The leading questions were juvenile ("What do you think is going through Suzon's mind?") and the generalizations trite ("...tapping into what unites us all: a fascination with the mysteries of the subconscious." - not me, but then that's me.)

The seven or so authors rotated ten sections throughout the year:
1 - Philosophy of Art (~~~~~mostly nonsense)
2 - Art Through the Ages (history soundbites, style periods)
3 - Profiles in Art (bios...no Asian, and only one woman)
4 - A Picture is Worth 1000 200 Words (Expanded museum placard info)
5 - Art From the Inside Out (Collections, museums, exhibitions)
6 - Art From Around the World (sound bites of regional art forms)
7 - Unexpected Art Forms (odd stuff, some cool, some a reach...sand, crop circles, snow)
8 - Artistic Oddities (more odd stuff, but mostly events - thefts, pop art)
9 - Step by Step Instructions (short and simple drawings)
10 - Art 101 (techniques, tools, media, some history)

This isn't bad, just very simple and narrow in scope.… (more)