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tacocat  ·  2416 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: An ad for Job Cigarette Papers by Alphonse Mucha

Well it was very common when art was a trade for a master to apprentice someone. And the master might not do much of anything in the end. There are paintings that are important because Leonardo probably painted part of them but received no credit because he was under tutelage.

So I can keep a thing like that in mind while being pissed off by that kind of thing being done today. Damien Hirst might be the most powerful working artist today. Because reasons. But he does that shit. And he can't even authenticate works of art assigned to him. He can literally not be able to tell if he did something himself or if it was done in his studio or if it was done by a ten year old with a spin art maker. I hate the limey fuck.

That's a very extreme example that I refer to a lot because of the different levels of absurdity that should be apparent. In less stupid examples I guess I think of it more like an ethics issue. Art is subjective so if that thing bothers you like it does me then that is a valid opinion even if it just seems weird and you can't diagnose the problem like I can. But people also just want a thing to put on the wall and that's fine too I guess even if I think that makes them morons. But someone could appreciate something I do for reasons I could even be offended by for whatever reason that's probably a personal failure by myself in execution or expectation.

I'm pretty well aware at this point exactly how much art school is a joke. The state of Georgia mildly endorses the fact that I'm an artist through giving me a BFA but I didn’t learn anything that was so critical that it separates me from some grandma painting roses on the weekend. I'm just saying that success in art is not very logical in the way it can be granted. It can be a humbling reality and the number of obnoxious art people I've met would do well to take it down a few pegs and realize how unimportant they are and the same thing for what they do.

I feel like I obscured the line between cynicism and pragmatism there but I'm not bitter about a whole lot of art things