>I define "art" as something I (the proverbial unskilled layman) couldn't do in a weekend.
Art is also about context. Look at prehistoric cave paintings: I have no technical skill as an artist, but I could easily recreate the paintings myself. But does that mean they're not art? Of course not. To take another example, how about the hasty sketches of a soldier in the trenches in the First World War?
I only use such a stark example to prove the point that technical skill isn't all that makes art art. If you don't know what people see in these "things" then perhaps you just need to look a little more carefully. A lot of modern art is taking the mundane, that which we are used to, and challenging our assumptions about it. Assumptions that we didn't even know we had.
I'm not commenting on this post in particular, but all too often I see this dismissive attitude towards modern art, and I think it's unfair and deserves more careful consideration.
Consider a painting I saw on TV a while back that is suspected of being done by da Vinci. If the experts concur, it would be worth millions. If they do not concur, it would be worth $20,000 because it's old. If joe starving artist down the street painted it, it would be worth $500 at best.
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>I define "art" as something I (the proverbial unskilled layman) couldn't do in a weekend.
Art is also about context. Look at prehistoric cave paintings: I have no technical skill as an artist, but I could easily recreate the paintings myself. But does that mean they're not art? Of course not. To take another example, how about the hasty sketches of a soldier in the trenches in the First World War?
I only use such a stark example to prove the point that technical skill isn't all that makes art art. If you don't know what people see in these "things" then perhaps you just need to look a little more carefully. A lot of modern art is taking the mundane, that which we are used to, and challenging our assumptions about it. Assumptions that we didn't even know we had.
I'm not commenting on this post in particular, but all too often I see this dismissive attitude towards modern art, and I think it's unfair and deserves more careful consideration.
Consider a painting I saw on TV a while back that is suspected of being done by da Vinci. If the experts concur, it would be worth millions. If they do not concur, it would be worth $20,000 because it's old. If joe starving artist down the street painted it, it would be worth $500 at best.
The exact same painting.