Let me begin by stating that I try to appreciate art in all of its forms. I don’t claim to truly understand all of it, but at the very least I acknowledge its importance and place in our society.
What I don’t subscribe to, is the culture of idol-worship and egoism that is so rampant in the artistic community. I agree that one should take pride in one’s work, but when an artist is revered as almost God-like by the toadies that follow him/her, and that every subtle nuance of his/her speech or art is meticulously analyzed and hailed as the greatest contribution to mankind, that’s where I draw the line (no pun intended).
The sycophantic tendencies of art-lovers to fawn over even the most trivial scribbling doodled on a page only serves to perpetuate this already incestuous community. I can’t help but wonder if the most sought-after artists are really people who just happen to have at least one wealthy friend with more money than he/she knows what to do with, and once this friend sees an example of the artist’s work, they throw money at the artist either as a friendly gesture of support or as a way to hail themselves as a “patron of the arts”, thereby immersing themselves in what they perceive to be a hip and glamorous culture. Then other rich people with more money than sense see that someone else is forking over enormous sums of money to commission this artist’s work, so they think there must be something unique about this artist (which there very well may be–but that’s not the point), so then they begin investing in it. And all of a sudden, this particular artist is jettisoned to the top of the art community, and as a result, any future artistic endeavors are now labeled as genius–no matter how nonsensical or random they may be; someone within the art community will attribute meaning to it in an attempt to validate themselves as an art aficionado, as well as justifying the existence of the art community as a whole.
I had the privilege of meeting an exception to this rule; the artist himself seemed far more down-to-earth and humbled by his craft than any of his “support staff”. It was refreshing to see an artist who seemed to be still more enchanted by the art itself, rather than the sensationalism of it.