My mother is a very talented artist. She has been recognized in published media as such. She worked very hard for a long time aquiring the skills needed to draw, paint in watercolor, oils, and acrylics. People who are "real artists" do not recognize these people as artists.
That is my perspective also. These kind of people sit around and blow smoke up each other's arses their whole artsy fartsy career. I don't think it is art in the sense of how 99% of us define it. The definition of art is where most of us disagree with the guys getting grants and those giving it.
This so called "art" is actually a lazy form of socialogy, therapy, meditation, etc. Depending on the viewer, it could be just one of those things; it could be all three or more. It also serves as a form of identity and reinforcement of an individual's ego/peer recognition. Mostly it seems to serve the ego by the viewer's ability to brag about it with like minds.
Moron 1: "Oh did you go see the BS exhibit at MoMA?"
Moron 2: "I've been dying to go see it! DID YOU?! You actually got to sit down? I waited for four hours in line, but had to leave and didn't get to see it!"
Moron 1: "Yeah. I sat in the chair and the artist actually came up and talked to me. It was sooooo moving!"
Moron 2: "OMG! Wait until Malik, Jacque, and so and so hear about it! They will just die!"
Moron1: *thinking to self "I'm sooooo special. Every one of them is going to be jealous. And I'm going to be the only one to be able to talk about this. They'll never be able to top that! I'm the existential thinker. I connect with people because I'm sooooooo different and special!!"
Not only do I think this is the problem with what people are calling art, it is the socialogical weakness that seems to be the most prevalently exploited by people looking to manipulate others. Maybe it's just what I have been noticing a lot of. They want to feel special and identify with something. In their minds the artsy-fartsy type are smarter, more enlightened, "in touch", sensitive, and can be described as virtually every positive attribute known to man. So they need to do everything they can to be able to affirm their identification of the aforementioned group to both themselves and, more importantly, their perceived peers.
How is this done? Walking, talking, doing, repeating, all the thoughts and actions of the group you wish to identify with. What does high-society do? They buy/"appreciate" art. And they go to ballets, operas, etc., not so much to enjoy the performance, but to say they went. They try to take part in exclusive things appropriate to that affirmation. The more exclusive...the better. They don't try to excel at anything, they simply try to do more to reach full identification. Which translates to self-confidence, self-esteem, peer acceptance, etc. Which also explains why they are liberal, voted for Obama, think the Constitution is a "living document," carbon credits are a good idea, capitalism sucks, white males are evil and should be ashamed of themselves, and basically anything else that they think the Ivy League elitists say they should be.
![[barf]](http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/Smileys/default/barf_smiley.gif "Barf!")
