The key to great modern and post-modern art

by phil on Tuesday Apr 15, 2003 5:35 PM
art theory

Every feature you see, every unfeature you see, any criticism you have, any praise you might lob, everything that is noticed, observed, and felt is all "intended." You think a painting is ugly in a certain way, well then it's ugliness in that way IS part of the art; the painting is making a point about ugliness. This is the key to understanding current "inaccessible" art. Identify whatever you distaste and then identify whether your distaste is part of the painting's intended response.

A piece of art that is dishonest, that lacks intention while simultaneously lacking intended unintention, basically lacks a conscious, and therefore is of a lower art form, pretty much a designation deserving of most art out there. If an artist has a bad voice, but uses his bad voice so that it is no longer bad, but actually good, then THAT is good art. This is why I cut Eminem a bit higher than most other artists because he takes his faults and turns them into a form of self-mockery that becomes part of his art.