Modern Art Is Crap

Great post by JMG this week…. all about the controversy from a character in a story he wrote not liking modern art.

My comment:

” Lucretia Heart said…

Aha!

My reaction to the character in the story declaring the modern art ugly was to give an enthusiastic nod of agreement. Though I’ve found a few fun “warholy” (heh! “war” “holy”) modern art pieces enjoyable, by and large my personal reaction to most of it is mental nausea. By that, I mean that instead of being inspiring or interesting or thought-provoking or meaningfully symbolic of the human experience– its just crass and ugly, and obviously so!

I have friends who are talented artists who can barely sell their amazing creations. I also know people who learned the jargon and modern philosophy of… well… the “scam” for lack of a better word, to part rich people (or taxpayers thru federal funding) from their money. The modern art world today is an industry that works through rules that are all about pretension to a finer ideal aesthetic.

But when something is an obvious turn off (as most of it is) no amount of superior posturing is going to convince me some ugly trash is treasure I’m just too limited to appreciate!

THANK YOU for this post. Despite the loud protestations by the art industry, most people by far and away agree that, yes– its just ugly and ultimately worthless. I think future generations will be completely baffled by the chaotic “original” seemingly random things we’ve left all over in our parks and museums… If you need a special education to “get it”– then you DON’T get it at all!”

His reply:

“Lucretia, your friends who are talented artists are in a real bind, due in large part to the maldistribution of income in the US. All the people who have money are into dog barf, and the people who don’t like dog barf don’t have money for art. That’s one of the many reasons why a large, thriving middle class is good for a society — it provides a large market for unpretentious art.“

UGLY has been in throughout the last century as far as art and architecture is concerned, and I long for the more lovely aesthetic of bygone years. Granted, that goes with the “simpler life” and “back to nature” stuff that many people are into lately, including myself. I would like to see a time when grace and beauty are longed for and sought and created again– but I may have to wait for my next life to see that unfold.