What is art (again!)

Province Town, MA, wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it'd be. At least during the day (night times are a different story).

But there are many galleries in Province Town, and gallery hopping in Province Town is much, much more relaxing than gallery hopping in the Chelsea district in New York. But I still came out with the same questions that I do whenever I visit any "contemporary" art museum:

What is art?

I saw many of the traditional watercolor paintings, the impressionist oil paintings, photorealistic acrylic paintings, but I also saw many "experimental" pieces. Some were more skillfully executed than others, and some looked like they could've been painted by a quadriplegic three year old. Yet my entire family was quick to defend the latter as if they were art critics, with their main defense being the much heard:

"WELL THEY ACTIVELY CHOSE TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THEY DIDN'T PUT ANY EFFORT INTO IT. THE MESSAGE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE!"


I, as a viewer, feel insulted every time I come across a piece that looks like it took no effort to make. What's the message you're trying to send to me? "I'm an artist, and anything I make is art, and if you don't appreciate this terrible landscape, you're not an artist and you don't understand art." That's about as pretentious as you can get and I want to hit you upside the head with my new folding shovel. Give me a reason to appreciate it other than the fact that you deem it art, because honestly, something that looks like it takes absolutely no skill to do shouldn't be heralded as a great piece of art.

On that note, happy Independence day!

I want a British accent so bad.