I'm hopping on to make a quick (shit, it's long) point about development and experimentation. One of the things that might be missing from your analysis of "modern" art is that the production value and experimentation just aren't there. Let me assure you that they are. In fact in most cases production is be one of the defining features of an artwork (after all it is VISUAL art). Let me try and break that down a bit. So Da Vinci tried to do something more along the lines of a secco rather than a fresco for The Last Supper, correct? He abandoned the old methods and tried to find a better method for preservation and appearance of the colours. Well similarly, we can analyse the works of the abstract expressionists in this fashion. They wanted to change the way paint was perceived, abandoning the old methods of trying to replicate images and instead letting paint, be paint. The pinnacle of abstract expressionism is in fact experimentation and a rebellion from older methods; painting on floors, using colours based upon your mood and painting shapes that resemble nothing in our current world. One could say that the production was the most important thing for them. Behind every great piece of art, there is hours upon hours of experimentation and production testing. ---------------------------------------------- For some more specific examples, look at Gerhard Richter. He makes abstract paintings by dragging a squeegee across his paintings. However if you watch his process, it is by no means as easy as it would first seem. He always has 2 paintings that he's working on in his studio, and he'll every day apply more paint if he's dissatisfied with what is currently on the canvas. By this process he continually builds up layer after layer, a porocess which usually takes several months. He might leave the painting for a month only to come back and completely erase it with more squeegeeing. Similarly, Jeff Koons developed a technique for applying colour to mirror polished stainless steel. Yes, those balloon animals are indeed stainless steel. This is by no means an easy process and he had to go through a lot of work to make his art stand out by using new experimental techniques. (though he's been coasting on those techniques for some time now). Also, shout out to another mech eng student.