The art world has officially become boring. We live in a moment in time that art is just a commodity like a bag of wheat. We might as well just stack artworks into massive warehouses and wait for it to become relevant again. Oh wait, lots of collectors are already doing this in free ports so they don’t have to pay taxes on their objects.
Although, I get a sick pleasure visiting art Fairs, let’s face it, the fairs are just a lot of noise. I can’t think of one moment I was emotionally affected by a single piece of art at a fair. I could have flipped channels endlessly on my parents’ satellite tv got just about the same emotional charge. The fairs are about being seen anyways and I guess that is why I feel obligated to go to some of them.
Auction houses and their bidders are jacking up prices at unsustainable levels. Of course, all the general public reads about is how much a painting sold for a record price. It is always a question of how these numbers have been manipulated if I give it much thought at all.
I am cutting some of my artist podcasts off because they either just talk about money or they give you all these strategies to promote yourself which is starting to make me feel dirty. Besides, if I did half of what they advise I wouldn’t have time to make any work or write anything at all. I never think I have enough time to make things to begin with let alone worry that I am not watering the plants on my social media sites. I like the podcast that talks about making work and what real life has thrown at them. Everything else feels fake and contrived. Maybe I can move back to those history podcasts I like to binge on while in the studio.
The moment we are experiencing can only be described as a Rococo type era. A time and place that gives you pleasure with no consequences. In the past, art could grab you and then release you either wanting more or pissed you off. The best you can get for much of the art out there is an “eh.” I wasn’t even aware that I was in a sea of mediocrity because I had not taken the last forty years all in until now. Nothing has made a clean sweep of things since Nirvana and you have to go even further back for the visual arts. Maybe it is the glut of Artists out there or just the system we currently find ourselves experiencing, but something has happened to cause this stagnation. Kitsch is officially king, which means nothing is challenging and the artists make work while turning their nose down at everyone else for being duped as a mark. Sadly the last Rococo period didn’t end well for a lot of people. An excess of an era always comes back to bite the next generation.
Sure I like a lot of art currently being made, but still, nothing has radically changed from the 1970’s. Pluralism of style and skill has lead to mediocrity. Everyone gets an award of participation ribbons to hang on their art piece, yet maybe half of a percent of artists out there will make an impact in a culturally significant way. Pluralism has done some great things like championing participation by marginalized artists. More shows by ethnic minorities and women are on the rise. Talent is being recognized and more people that didn’t have an opportunity in the past now get a shot. Too bad we are in such boring and bad arts times. Something is squashing everyone equally.
So, what is the source of all these problems we have in the arts? The art and cultural critic David Hickey blames state and Federal Support and universities as a source of the problem. According to Hickey, universities squash those that have talent and thoughts that counter the culture at large. The state and federal support spread out funds by committee and artists try to please those members by making work they like. I would also like to add one other nail in the squashing of creativity, institutions to a form of art. The moment my brother Troy heard that there was going to be a rock-n-roll hall of fame, he predicted that this was the sign that rock-n-roll was no longer relevant and for the most part he was correct in his prediction. Institution attempt to define things in nice packages and good art can’t be initially boxed in with a pretty bow. All three are anti-counter culture. Only through a counterculture group can we get out of this mess. But the powerful forces working against these small groups of artists are to just overwhelming. Thus you have such a long period of stagnation.
