What is Art?
I was waiting in front of the Guggenheim Museum for my friend ML. Who had called me to tell me he’s coming. In which I inquired why a line was forming. Which apparently was to get into the museum which was for free admissions after 6pm on Fridays. To get another frantic call from ML not to enter the museum without him. Of course, he saunters by the museum. He can not wait till 6pm because he must head over to a family dinner at 6:30.
So we lugged ourselved down to the MET to see the Robert Rauschenberg. We experienced a few mishaps before we entered the exhibit. At first I was experiencing a little deja vu of when I went to the Brooklyn Museum with KH to see the Basquiat exhibit. Which by the way I hated. At first I disliked the Rauschenberg exhibit because anyone can slap on some comics, paint and frame it to call it art. Then I encountered the free standing pieces which were much more though provoking. He does have an obsession for poultry. There was a number of stuffed birds in a few of his paintings and pieces. As I was standing in front of one his pieces I was thinking product placement. There was a Coca Cola bottles and a Sony box. He was a man before his time. I was expressing my thoughts, when ML promptly told me to march my cynic self to the description of the few pieces I was lookings at.
Okay, I am a cynic. It wasn’t like this was a Monet, Rembrandt or DaVinci. Then again, I don’t really like Van Gogh. Well at least the stuff I saw in Amsterdam. The masters were about how realistic their art was. But with contemporary art it’s pretty subjective. It’s about how much a consumer is willing to pay for your piece. If they are willing to buy your art then you could be deemed talented. I find that Basquiat stuff isn’t exactly though provoking. Perhaps because he was high most of time, and everything is art when you’re in that state. I must admit that Rauschenberg got more interesting as it went along. It made you think. Then what am I to say what is art. Considering one of my favorite artist is Jackson Pollacks. Perhaps it the symmetry in how the paint drops on the canvas. Either way, people don’t necessarily buy contemporary art these days for appreciation but more for investment value. There’s a cynic for you.
