I think a lot of what passes for art these days are actually scams in designer clothes. This is generally true of works from the worlds of painting, sculpture, and performance art, and to a lesser extent, dance, music and even photography.
I’ve been feeling this for a long time, but held back from saying it. Now I wonder why I held back.
I think a lot of what passes for art these days are actually scams in designer clothes. This is generally true of works from the worlds of painting, sculpture, and performance art, and to a lesser extent, dance, music and even photography. However the top of the bull heap is definitely occupied by conceptual art.
Most artists these days claim to be making ‘statements’ with their works of art. Everyone is making some statement that is apparently worth a few million dollars. Usually the statement is as trite as ‘There is a lot of hunger in the world and it is a terrible thing’. For saying that, someone like Subodh Gupta would be hailed as genius by the art community. I think everyone on earth except the few hundred people who can afford to buy Gupta’s works know that starvation is not pleasant.
Others like Damien Hirst took the art of the obvious statement to higher levels and prices. Hirst did it with his talent for shock and spin, and the good offices of moneybags like Charles Saatchi. His artistic statements from his most famous works — a dead shark in a tank, and a human skull with a glittery diamond topping — are probably something to do with death. From the title of the fish tank artwork, it would appear that the artist was trying to say something to the effect that sharks don’t reflect on death. That’s a genius thought, and it was wonderful of Saatchi to commission it, pay £50,000 for it, and then use his position and influence to advertise it relentlessly until it cost twice as much…though the fish had begun to rot by then.
The thing that gets my goat about the world of conceptual art is that the concepts are so often trite or meaningless. If the art is conceptual, its value is because of the concept or idea. The artist contributes little or nothing to the artwork in terms of skill or craft. Gupta’s sculptures are fabricated by unknown workers. Gupta directs them, though to what extent they need his directions, and not just anybody’s directions, is anyone’s guess. Hirst’s shark was ‘made’ by a taxidermist no one knows. The taxidermist is doing good business because the shark keeps rotting and has to be replaced every couple of years. However, no one calls him an artist.
I wager I could become a con (short for conceptual) artist tomorrow. I have several Very Deep Thoughts every day. For example, I have been thinking lately that there is a lot of bullshit in the world. Bet you never thought of that!
I plan to create an artwork to show this very original concept. I’m going to hire some daily wage labourers and ask them to put it together. It will consist of a giant heap of bullshit, with glitter and PR handouts sprinkled on it. I’ll spray this with quantities of expensive perfume and title it ‘The Impossibility of Thinking About Bullshit When it is Perfumed’. I will then do the really important bit of the work: put up a nice board outside my house saying ‘Artist’, and engage a PR firm to sell stories about genius me to the media. I don’t care if my artwork is not pretty, and neither should you. Art these days is not about beauty. We all know that. Nor is it about giving pleasure to viewers.
It’s about truth, haha. Any old truth will do!
Samrat is the author of The Urban Jungle
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