Art is Weird
Written by Ada Schmidt
Every once in a while, I hear about some new expirimental art piece on whatever social media platform, and I say “Oh wow! That’s super cool!” Then, I check the comments and see an ocean of people saying “That’s not art! Grhhh I’m so angry!” It seems like nothing is more capable of drawing rage from the public than a banana taped to a wall.
And I kind of understand where they’re coming from. I can see why someone might see a white canvas with just a few splashes of paint – or maybe no paint at all – and say “What is this? How is this art? Why are we putting this crap up next to Andy Warhol?” I can see why they don’t feel like the art reaches them.
But that modern art does reach some people, no? Some people see Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan and feel anger at “what art has become,” but others see it as an introspective piece that makes them question art’s place in the world. And either way, it does get people talking.
There’s a common argument among the anti-modern-art-crowd that “a toddler could do that.” And it’s true that, if you gave a toddler a few crayons, they could probably draw the lines that create Basquiat’s Defacement. But could a toddler fully understand police brutality and systemic racism in the US? And could they understand how to convey that through the symbolism Basquiat did? Maybe. If they were a very thoughtful and well-educated toddler.
Art can be about more than just the physical materials that make it up. Its quality doesn’t need to be determined by how difficult it was to create. It’s about what the artist is saying. Even more, it’s about what it makes the viewer think and feel.
I think we should all be less normal with our art. Be absurd as you want. Be as weird as you need to be to get people feeling. Who cares about photorealism or telling a story? Go build a lobster phone.
Back in 2016, some teenager put a pair of glasses on the floor of a museum, and the people there gathered around it like it was another great piece of modern art. The general public reaction to this was: “Haha! Look at these foolish artpeople! They think that eyeglasses are art! What fools!” But y’know what? Those eyeglasses were art. And so is anything else we want to be.
