The Chandelier Debate

While it is certainly interesting to think about how cameralike devices might have influenced realism in 14th Century painting, I do not find Hockney's argument very valid. To claim that methods like the camera-obscura or a concave mirror to project images onto a canvas as the cause of the sudden burst in realism seems absurd to me. Is he seriously suggesting that all realistic painters adopted such methods and that this remained a secret....for nearly 6 centuries? I agree with Eleanor and can not help but wonder if Hockney is merely attempting to "shock" the art world with such claims. I think using photographic methods to work in other mediums, like painting, is a fascinating idea and illustrates the enormous potential of combing artistic mediums but I am not convinced that it was instrumental in the rise of realism. In another course of mine, we read an article about a well-respected scientific researcher who claims that AIDS is not caused by HIV but rather some other infectious agent and I can not help but relate this to Hockney. Both theories are easy to dismiss immediately because they defy our current knowledge but I think it it imperative to do more exploration and analysis before making any conclusive decisions. It's worth investigating.