Critique Wall.com

Designers, artists and the aesthetically elite know who they are. Their vocabulary is filled with statements such as, “Form follows function” or “Less is more,” and they like to think up esoteric phrases like “The devil is in the details.” For some reason in their past, they have earned the right to be heard, and they have the funky glasses to prove it.

On the other hand, there's Gabor.

Gabor is a mechanic. I am his most loyal customer…a loyalty of necessity since I drive a 14 year old Volvo with 233k+ miles on it. When I complain about seeing him again, Gabor reminds me “it's good for the economy.” Often he answers the phone with a flat, “What.” or “Yes?” He isn't interested in impressing anyone.

Being an incurable designer myself (sans funky glasses), I can't help but notice the chaos and mass disorganization of his shop whenever I drop off my car. It is not unlike one of the many storefronts in India. In these shops you can ask for the tiniest item like a screw for a radio, and in seconds they will disappear into the darkness, pull out a shoebox, and unearth precisely the part for which you are looking. Gabor's shop reminds me of this. It may look like a disorganized mess, but he knows exactly where everything is located.

So you can imagine his surprise (or groan, rather) when I asked him if I could take a few pictures. I had a little extra time, and he didn't seem so busy…why not? After I snapped a few shots, he pointed out his Georgia OKeeffe painting on the…er…pile of stuff. “It's a genuine, you know.” he says with a grin. So I begin asking him about his interests in art.

You can imagine my surprise at his response. Warhol, Liechtenstein, Pollock, Dali and others rolled off his tongue as if he were a gallery curator. He certainly knew about modern art. Yet despite his apparent knowledge of art, he made his opinions quite clear. The vast majority of what constitutes modern art, in his opinion, was degenerate and crude—lacking both creativity and skill, or that it just wasn't art at all. Clearly he had ventured into that arena and had grounds for his criticism.

As I stood listening to him, I found it humorous that I should be even holding this conversation in such a peculiar place. Should I be surprised when the guy with a greasy wrench in his back pocket knows more than the “pro?” My stereotyped pigeon-hole for Gabor had just imploded before my eyes.

When it comes to art, who has the final word anyway? Does the fact that I studied art in school give me some platform on which to stand and make the final call? Does the fact that Gabor studied art on his own give him a different platform? What about the guy that never studied art? When I meet with a client and he “just don't like it”, even though I am able to articulate why a design has merit, must I revert to his “tastes?” I shudder at the thought. But certainly there are many people out there who are strangely drawn to bad design (hence the popularity of Myspace).

I still believe that art is not something beyond anyone's grasp. We don't need funky glasses or a college degree to appreciate good art. I found plenty of great “art” at Gabor's shop. Yet I, along with Gabor, am led to wonder…is there a higher, more noble way to see and create art?