If you own any form of social media, you may have encountered online discourse surrounding this current era of “modern” or contemporary art. This controversy stems from the composition of the artworks rather than the artists’ characters, a trend seen in recent years, especially among musicians. Many support the idea that modern art is not art, arguing that the artworks produced lack creativity and effort, only serving as a cash cow. On the other hand, some individuals believe that modern art is symbolically simple and is genuinely worth anyone’s time of day, even though it’s not.
One of the main definitions of art goes as follows: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power,” according to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. By taking a quick look at some of the works done by these modern “artists,” most people will realize that their work does not fit the definition of art. In recent years artist Maurizio Cattelan rose to popularity due to selling a banana duct taped to the wall for around six million dollars under the disguise of modern art. This work was titled Comedian, and individuals who bought this piece did not receive a banana duct taped to a wall. Instead, they received a banana, duct tape, and instructions in the mail. Looking at an image of this artwork online demonstrates the clear lack of creativity and imagination that went into this art. Additionally, it required absolutely no artistic skills to make in the first place.
Other than the effort an artist puts into their art to make it an art piece, art is also categorized by the emotions it evokes in viewers. While many have argued that Comedian counts as art due to the reactions it was able to provoke, this does not prove their argument as most were only reacting to the price it sold for and not the piece itself. If it cannot invoke emotions when separated from price, how does it still count as provoking emotion? If this piece was up for display or randomly posted to the internet without the context of it costing six million dollars most people would either be confused or not even care.
This banana-on-a-wall piece is not the only example of so-called modern art, although it may be one of the most prevalent in pop culture. Other examples include the famous blue squares, or Onement IV by Barnett Newman, which sold for around 43 million dollars, and a plethora of performed art displays such as the video of a woman hitting a block of butter with a string which gained popularity on a variety of social media platforms, and the blank canvas titled Take The Money and Run by a Danish artist that ended up selling for around 76 thousand dollars.
Instead of producing quality art, some modern “artists” seem to only be interested in money, destroying the meaning of art in the process.
