Art, a wall or a window?

Anyone who reads this Blog would understand that I absolutely despise Graffiti but being human I can also make grand dictums replete with caveats. 

Generally, I will give a pass to Banksy, but a few other artists too,  who have something artistically interesting to express. For me, Art in all its forms, is a window not a wall, something transcendent not myopic.

Most graffiti is self-indulgent and juvenile, narcissist, and basically just a visual nuisance for the rest of us. And most murals are usually pretty dreadful too. Where I live in Australia, I would bet a million dollars that there are more blue jumbo dolphins splashing about on buildings than anywhere else in the world.

Et portent, and yet..., this enormous mural caught my eye and surprised me with great pleasure, even causing me consternation. I wish I could remember who is the  artist and where it is located, my apologies.

It's not that I even like its drawing or colour harmony but there is something in its 'colourful design' that I find so well unified, puzzling and audacious, so much so, that I actually really like it. It has a vaguely figurative aspect to it as if it's maybe channeling Salvador Dali? But as a critical matter, is any good? Does it succeed? 

Because giant wall murals are in a class of their own, I personally don't really have the critical wherewithal to judge them as artwork. That may sound like a lame way of fobbing off the important question, but hey! I'm only human. I can only judge it by the same criteria that I use everywhere else in my peregrinations around the world. 

It is a public work, and ultimately it must also be judged with an acutely critical eye, like for everything else in this realm of aesthetics. And yet I still myself suddenly feeling a little self-conscious in this world. This is the world of the delightful and surprising jumbo-polished steel blob by Anish Kapoor, that occupies an large open space in Chicago. But it's also part of the muscular and (sometimes almost fascist) work of Richerd Serra. Hmmmm. But too, an unlikely hero in the world of Public Art is Jeff Koons, who created several versions of the oversized 'Puppy', made of flora and flowers, a piece that brings universal joy to almost everyone.  

So regarding this ten or twelve story high mural, I have no irrational way to explain why it does bring me such puzzled joy. But hey! We all need lots of joy today, puzzled or otherwise.

But I like to imagine myself stumbling upon this gigantic wall in an open space somewhere downtown somewhere, and I believe it would be as surprising as finding a field of red poppies growing out of one's own bathtub.

For myself, it's a rare thing to be pleasantly surprised in this contemporary life, urban ironic, or otherwise.