Art is dead, and people don't care?

Why are we still awarding academic degrees for areas of the arts where it has become literally impossible to evaluate work with any degree of objectivity whatsoever? Many works of 'art' I've seen recently look as if someone was rummaging around at ground zero, or were produced by a welder who came to work drunk and stoned.





I have an appreciation for REAL art, such as the works of Beethoven, Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Picasso, etc, but some of the stuff I've seen recently could be considered total crap or a masterpiece, depending on how inebriated the viewer is, but at the same time there are very few people who wouldn't agree that the Sistine Chapel took a large amount of talent.





I just don't see why someone who spends 4 years slapping together chunks of scrap metal into a completely Orwellian structure resembling nothing should recieve the same degree as someone who busted their *** studying the complexities and TANGIBLE applications of modern physics.

Art is dead, and people don't care?
You preach to the choir, my friend. A coworker (a painter) and I (a musician) had a long talk about this very topic a few weeks ago.





It goes back to primary schools not providing adequate focus on the arts -- art (painting, sculpting, etc), music, and even writing. They end up picking up ideas from all the wrong places, then lo and behold, you have someone who randomly throws a can of paint at a canvass and calls it his masterpiece.





Our school systems are designed to suppress creativity and instill a black and white view of all problems and scenarios.





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TelulahB, Beethoven was not considered a hack. He was revered by the Romantic community and the people of the time in general. Sure, there were people who didn't like Beethoven's music because of his use of dissonance but he was still extremely popular. His funeral was absolutely massive -- to say that he was considered a hack is insane and ignorant.
Reply:art sucks! art is so gay.
Reply:except.....during Beethoven's time, he was considered a hack who died penniless. Michelangelo was just one of the hundreds of artists kept in the Medici stable and was not at the time considered one of the best. Da Vinci was in frequent trouble for "crimes" against the church. Picasso was considered a joke and had to deal with tremendous nay sayers through his entire life. Actually most artists achieved success only after they had died and subsequent generations "discovered" them.





The point is, art is subjective and often it's brilliance isn't realized in its time or by all people. Yes, I agree that I prefer the classical stuff that LOOKS like what the artist was trying to represent and I don't see how Tracey Emin and her ilk are considered artist. But maybe people in the future will see it as brilliant.
Reply:an artist should be more open to ideas and creativity than you are.
Reply:I agree with you. I think anyone could weld together a bunch of metal and call it art. But it is still a matter of opinion.