Modern
art: skillfull or tasteless?
By
Yang Jiang
Magis staff writer
The pale,
stolid colors stared back at Jimmy. The sculpture’s
finely developed curves entangled and swallowed him. Its smooth
texture felt almost shiny, yet still retained a white-grayish
color. A rectangular tank stood at the posterior end of the
piece, connected to what seemed to be a large bowl. A smooth,
shining white tree stump held the structure to the ground.
How inspiring this piece is to the common man! Filled with
awe and amazement, Jimmy’s eyes clasped the structure
as though it was life itself. Its sleek design was encompassing
yet sizable and easy to understand.
Jimmy wasn’t alone in this quest for the meaning of
life and things beyond. No, there were dozens of people around
him, watching and trying to understand the piece. Nearby,
a woman and her daughter walked up to the structure. The woman
sized up the piece of artwork with the same emotions that
seized Jimmy. As if coming out of his own head, the sound
of laughter danced across his eardrums. The daughter of the
woman was laughing at the sculpture! How dare her insolence
and childish behaviors be exhibited in such a fine institution!
Looking obviously perturbed, Jimmy asked the little girl,
“Hey little lady, why are you laughing?”
The little girl replied, “Don’t you see it?”
“See what?” asked Jimmy with puzzlement. “The
toilet silly! The toilet!” As if lightning had stuck
the metaphoric face of Jimmy’s thoughts, he jolted up
and stared in amazement at the structure… could it be?
This fine artistic expression was a mere… toilet? Blushing
now, along with a dozen other people around him, jimmy quietly
strolled away from the toilet and out of the museum, never
to return again.
Why doesn’t everyone realize the stupidity of modern
art? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only sane person
in America...wait...scratch that...on the face of the world
is more like it. It surprises me how no one else on Earth
seems to realize what modern art is. It’s a sham and
a waste of your time and money.
Do not get me wrong when I voice my opinion. I don’t
hate all art. I love the works of the greats: Da Vinci, Degas,
Giotto, Whistler, Holbein, Kerhbiel and Picasso, to name a
few. Between these great artists, there are two things in
common: a fantastic love for creating and an experienced skill
in performing. It is through this combination that these magnificent
artists stood out from the rest and earned society’s
attention.
Yet today, there has been a repulsive metamorphosis in art;
the great works of the past have been perverted into this
almost unnatural “free expression of ideas.” People
throw things at a canvas and expect it to be admired and loved
by the public. Through years of brainwashing and mindless
propaganda, the common man has come to love modern art! A
lie told a thousand times will become truth!
Behind all the pseudo-sophisticated “analyzing”
of modern art, all the pretended profound understanding, is
the blatant and clear truth. You’re not looking at art,
your looking at something someone threw together without any
skill or mastery of the arts. What’s lacking is that
experienced skill I mentioned earlier. In order for a person
to be a good artist (at least in my world) there has to be
both love and skill. Those who only love art but never master
it well enough are not only failures in my eyes, but also
propagandists who brainwash people into loving mediocre art.
I dabble in drawing, sculpting and sometimes a little oil
painting. I do not have a third of the great masters’
skills, but at least I am knowledgeable enough to know this
truth. When I take footsteps into so-called modern art museums,
there comes to me a feeling of sorrow. I am appalled that
the talents of the modern era are perverted to honor these
pieces of nothing. So the next time you walk into an art museum,
think to yourself: “What do I see? A masterpiece or
a toilet?”
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