Thanks to Linda for this priceless news tip.
Two students bought a pineapple at the supermarket and left it on an empty display case at a modern art exhibit at Robert Gordon University, Scotland. As they expected, the pineapple was mistaken for a work of art and placed inside the display case for everyone to admire (https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2017/05/09/tuesday-funny-pineapple-left-behind-by-students-mistaken-for-modern-art/).
An exhibit official denies that they were taken in by the prank; but I think the joke’s on them. And on the world of modern art in general.
This reminds me of an experience I had when I was studying art in college.
I stayed behind one day to help the art instructor clean out his classroom. Up on top of a row of closets, I found some pieces of twisted fiberglass.
“Where do you want me to toss these?” I asked.
He laughed. “No, no, no! Don’t toss them anywhere!” Those, he explained, were his sculptures, which he was scheduled to display at such-and-such a time at such-and-such a place.
“You’re kidding,” I said. “These are just junk.”
He laughed some more. “You know it’s junk, and I know it’s junk,” he said, “but the people at the gallery say it’s art and they’re going to exhibit it. If I’m lucky, they’ll sell it to someone who’s an even bigger numbskull.”
And there you have it–culture rot, circa 1969.
Big-time “art” has been in serious trouble for at least that long.
It’s difficult to fathom the gullibility of the human mind.
Oh, beholder, you have something in your eye.
There is an element which seems to be missing from the discretion of many people. Actually, I agree, a pineapple is a work of art, but placing a pineapple on a table does not an artist make. The artist, in that case, is God and placing His creations on a table may be decorative, but the person that placed these objects is not an artist, by any description I could accept.
The idea of conceptual art seems to have outgrown its root system. I simple photograph which places the viewer in a unique perspective to the subject of the photo could be considered artistic, but that doesn’t mean that every photo taken at a wacky angle then becomes art.
In order for someone to be thought of as an artist, there needs to be unusual skill involved. It takes skill to paint a wall with indoor latex, but it takes unusual skill to paint an effective mural on that same wall. When I pay money to attend a concert, I’m willing to do so because the musicians possess unusual skill. If an unskilled person can duplicate a work of art, then the only value to that art is conceptual, which may or may not have any legitimate artistic value.