Objectively Assessing Art?
Why Post-Modernism has democratised art and rid our world of elitist snobs
Editorial Opinion
I was having an in depth conversation with a person who claimed that there was such a thing as "good taste". That is, it wasn't up to what we as individuals thought was good - there is inherent in the world a notioon of good taste. Extending this to art, she said that there is good art and bad art. We've seen countless examples of adults entering their children's drawings into art competitions and winning them. Critics point to this as somehow proving that the idea that modern art is not real art. For example, how can a child's rambling be considered as socially relevent or even aesthetically pleasing? I say however, that the very fact that we live in a world where a child's scribble can be appreciated as art and be interpreted by adults as somehow being a critique of society, is something we should all treasure. It does not make a mockery of "art" - it elevates it as the great equaliser. When Elephant art is exhibited in galleries across the world, we must admire the universality and inclusiveness of artistic endeavour - where no one is left out, and even the most "mediocre" are given a voice. When art is an embodiment of society; no more will the elites be able to determine who joins their club as to what is "good".
So, the notion that good art can somehow be objectively ascertained is as ludicrous as it is simple minded. Of course, people who run art galleries would like us to think that a Picasso is more valuable than a two year old's scribble. However, in this world we are all authors. All of us artists. When we read Shakespeare - we are not only reading words - we are creating a world in our head, we are creating a way of reading it, we are being creative - we are all authors. I've often said that perhaps it is the INTENTION that makes the art what it is. If the author actually intended it to be art, well then it is art - if he or she or it intended it to make a social point - to interract with society, to challenge our beliefs, and lift our consciousness, well then god damn it - it is art.
So, we at the Australian Voice bring you the classic work of the post-modern artist doMad, who spent its entire life trying to challenge the way we thought about life from inception to death. The example below you may think is just a crudely constructed 'piece of crap' - that is your imperative (and indeed, you have made yourself an author in the process by reading it that way), but the study guide provided with the work makes you understand how truly inspirational and prophetic this person was. We can only mourn the loss of doMad who eight years to this day, emboldened by its artistic genius, gave its life in pursuit of the truth of the individual as author. doMad is the true embodiment of art as democracy in its purist sense - giving hope to all that the public sphere will really allow everyone their say in art.
INVERTED PAPER CLIP ON POST IT
doMad 1993
The unmistakable work of post-modern non-gendered genius doMad, this 1993 masterpiece from its "I don't give a fuck" period demonstrates a stunning ability to capture the zeitgeist of a world struggling with issues of right and wrong, identity and spelling, in a word and powerpoint driven, post-recession mileau of noveau riche "greed is good." It is also a biting critique of modern office life.
Positing an impeccably designed, symmetrically outlined Post It with a paper clip inverted and distorted in shape personifies this post-modern confusion and destruction of all identity. The violence of this contrast is also prophetic of the late 1990s massacres by disgruntled, disenfranchised and ultimately disembodied students throughout America. Students who were unable and not allowed to "fit into" the constructed, symmetrical, fascist, two dimensional world that the school system (represented by the post it) imposed on their inverted personalities (represented by the paper clip).
Visually appealing, with a masterful "contrast" of yellows, doMad deconstructs the notional fiction that humans are special unique individuals. As it said:
"We are all just in the same fucked up world with the same shit all attitude. We're all just water, flesh, GOO, inner intestines and stuff, but in different shades of yellow."
But the work itself triumphs as a bastion of individual endeavour, undermining its author's constructed pretensions about its importance and the importance of the work to a society still getting over the post-grunge post-nirvana alienation of that generation. Even in its own conception and analysis it contains a furious antithesis of ideas about humanity as it approaches post-humanism.
Obviously, we are only scratching the surface in this commentary of this masterpiece. Indeed, the intellectual weight of this priceless classic no doubt precipitated doMad's suicide when it underwent a Do It Yourself non gender re-allignment surgery.