arrogant dependents -- art’s salaried

Elitism is a scary disease, antithetical to democracy, but big art loves it. It says give me art so vile and stupid the government will have to subsidize it, and we’ll build an industry of dependence around it. Don’t worry if the art seems aggressively arbitrary, pointless and shallow -- everybody has a share, is what they’ll say. This is their plan -- by limiting art to only trademarked vendors, the sanctioning board creates an exclusion zone so tight millionaires will elbow past each other just to get in, and myriad government agencies, including the universities, can all hitch a ride. The price will be paid by the six-pack cretins, quaint moms and pops filling out W-2’s, the great herd of aesthetic illiterates out there living on fast food in pickup truck hell. They float this bloated cruise ship in the thin air of condescension, merchandize their gift shops, and monopolize media with a weaponized disdain. Pirates would so respect such sophistication.

Brillo boxes in an art museum is super silly, best I can say about it. I could repeat the ton of corn that put them there, but it’s dreary. In my house cleaning supplies go under the sink, and irony, ha ha. Worth millions you say, now that’s the irony, if you’re not getting enough day to day. Most folks have their share already, and such droll dalliances with commercial packaging probably won’t move them. This doesn’t make them dumb, although spending ten minutes in front of an Ellsworth Kelly in a museum could be a sign. Museum directors, the reason your attendance dwindles is because you make with such big promotions and deliver so little, and how much time do you spend with post-modern, so great to see it everyday?

When we resettle our priorities maybe they’ll be gone, the rapacious millionaires tearing off their slices of fame while talking down to the dealers who pick their pockets, the peer review groups on the dole recognizing and rewarding their own, the university art departments resentful of talent, squatting on educational real estate. Maybe we just won’t be paying attention to them, anymore. That’s because ordinary people are beginning to wonder where art went, and why they don’t have more of it in their lives. Medical facilities, traditionally austere and foreboding, have softened the environment with local art, creating a thought provoking gallery for a legitimate cross section of the community. Visitors, and all those feeling well enough to look at art, feel the respect the artists have shown them and it’s reciprocated. Maybe they’ll buy a piece if they see the same artist for sale somewhere, and art will take care of itself.