Super Smart Abstract Art - [website] Published: 27th of Oct 2011 by: Miss Knowitall
Have you ever walked around an art gallery thinking you’re the only one who doesn't see the *genius* behind some of the supposed works of art?
I have. And I know I’m not alone in this, either. I see the vacant expression on people’s faces as they wander from piece to piece, wondering what on Earth was going through the artist’s mind and why they are the only ones not getting it.
But then the curator comes along and announces that the magnificent piece our eyes are lucky enough to gaze upon is worth an astounding R5-million, and suddenly everyone pretends that they see a deeper meaning in the randomly stacked pile of tyres simply because the price tag says they should.
Let’s be honest, a lot of the abstract art we see has nothing to do with art at all. It tells no story, represents no real idea and has nothing noteworthy about it except the artist’s name, but tell someone it’s a work of art and it’s worth a few million rand and suddenly everyone’s in awe.
Yes, there are a few good (well, pleasing to the eye) abstract artworks out there, but covering a canvas in splotches of paint like a five-year-old simply doesn’t count in my book; that’s not art or expression, it’s regression.
It just goes to show how people base their assumptions on the smallest of things (like a price tag). Value a sculpture of some random shape at R2-million and the mind says that there MUST be a reason for it, even if you can’t see it yourself, so instead of admitting that it’s really nothing more than a rock with a hole in the middle we just go with the flow hoping the sculpture’s sheer awesomeness will make itself apparent at some point in time, but I’m betting it never does….
