Emperor’s New Art
You can call a spade a spade, you can say it is what it is, but if it’s bullshit, i WILL call it bullshit. If its trash backed up by intellectual psychobabble, it would still be bullshit.
Nothing annoys me more than encountering a bullshitting artist. There is a reason I am not an artist, i know that first i need loads of skill. When I was little, I was inspired by a homemade book I found in our Baguio home. It was made by a friend of my dad’s, who got people to trace their hands and draw around them with objects representing them. The book had many artists, poets, writers, educators, travellers who had something to draw, something to say. The ballet dancer drew dancing nymphs on hers. The musician had beers and guitars. It was not the art or individual skill that blew me away, but the concept and collective wittiness of all works combined made me love that book so much. You know how you listen to a CD for the first time, not really picking out a favorite song, but liking all of the songs enough for it to make it one of your favorite CDs of all time? That was how I felt about the book.
I traced my hand and drew objects in it. I put an elephant, a timer, a chessboard, water drops. I was proud it was artfully done with fine lines and minimal erasures. I showed it to my dad, who took one look at it and said “Put some more color in it” and then went back to minding his own business.
For him, it was not enough to be called art, or something to be praised. I have no hang-ups about this, I draw on occasion but nothing like my father who is considered an artist’s artist and well-regarded by his artist peers all around the world and who has made his life into art. He encouraged us to delve into other art programs, I, being skilled in music, my elder sister in writing and the eldest in dancing. Having him as a father gave us a certain standard when it comes to appreciating art and even absorbing a well-framed piece of shit.
I am not so judgemental to the point that whatever is ugly is trash, no, that is not how i discriminate art at all. I just know that whatever piece that does not require skill, or effort, or idea should not be called art. Maybe mediocre art.
There are already plenty mediocre artists out there..including mediocre artists who starve to make it big. Or yuppies with plenty of money buying the fanciest cameras and calling themselves photographers. Or pretty girls who squeal and chant and call themselves singers?
What’s worse though is meeting an artist who will make a performance art out of breathing. seriously. My feces make curly tails that look more artistic than that.
Yeah, sure, maybe I’m bitter. But we live in a world that is so transparent and varied. Why make art using everyday life when you can fuse, deconstruct, objects and ideas and concepts into endless possibilities into a multitude of color palettes and images?
Because art shouldn’t be about bullshit. it should be honest and it is what it should be. But don’t try peddling me your sketches for $500. I can come up with something similar AND i know you can do better than that.
