Modern day art. Most of the world has seen these minimal pieces where “artists” will just stick a dot in the middle of the page and people call it a masterpiece. Or perhaps they will tastefully arrange some geometric shapes and sell it for millions of dollars. Now, there must be a taste for it. That’s why it’s selling so well. However, it’s also ruining art.
It’s monetary benefits and internet virality that drives these artists. When they create pieces that are so simple, it creates a conversation. On social media platforms, when a piece is shared, critiques of the piece will come in. This will then spark a topic of discussion. This is what drives these artists.
Taking specific examples, I’m talking about the piece by Piet Mondrian. Composition C(no.III) with Red, Yellow, and Blue, 1935. This piece is composed of thick, black, straight lines, and colors filling in the blocks. I believe I made a similar piece in kindergarten during arts and crafts time. A similar variation of this is a piece by Theo Von Doesburg, Composition VII, 1917. This one is a bit more original where it’s colored rectangles on a black background.
Next would be the dot apocalypse. Red Trumpet, 2008 by Donals Sultan. The piece is a big red circle in the center with a small black dot in the center of the red dot. That’s it. But the catch is that it sold for nearly $5,000. An exhibit by Jonathan Horowitz, a piece is literally just a black dot, smack dab in the middle of the canvas. Now the price was never disclosed if it ever sold at all, however, my point is that art these days lacks creativity, and the ones that do have that factor are overlooked by these filler pieces that take up space in the art community.
Now, the most confounding style ever. Splatter Art. It’s comparable to finger painting. An animal could do it and I mean quite literally. There are literally animals, specifically dogs, who can paint flowers. Splatter art is just lazy. A flick of the wrist, a throw of a bucket, or even using a paintball gun. There is no thought or meaning that really goes into composing a painting like that.
It is not just painted pieces that are suffering due to this new desire for internet fame or money. Architecture is as well. Now we have modern architecture as well, where architects will just come with seemingly random variations of shapes, blend them together, and call it intricate.
The problem within both of these examples is that they both lack creativity. Anyone can draw a few cubes and call it a house. Anyone can tick a random line on a piece of paper and call it a masterpiece. But think of St. Paul’s Basilica, or the Colosseum, or any traditional or cultural architecture. There is a level of intricateness that seems to have ended. Now it’s all rough cuts and cubes stacked on top of each other.
The same could be said for music as well. Beyoncé once talked about how “people don’t make albums anymore” her point was that people only produce quick singles to generate quick money. These songs have no timelessness due to their meaningless composition, which makes them burn out. Nowadays singers and songwriters only produce songs and singles that will be a quick hit. But then it burns out because there was minimal effort made for that song to be timeless. The lyrics are surface level, the production is rushed, usually just a synthesis of electronic sounds, and the vocals weak. There has been a revolution where everyone thinks they can be a singer nowadays. News flash: you can’t.
A great example of this would be artists that got their start on TikTok, like Dixie D’amelio and Charli D’amelio or Addison Rae. These artists are over-extending their marketability and profit margins by trying to break out into the music scene using their already acquired fame. The same could be said for “Soundcloud Rappers” or the “TikTok Rappers”. As much as it hurts, a specific example to me is IceSpice. Though they have had immense success due to being featured on PinkPantheress and her own breakout song “Munch(Feelin U)”. However, they lack range and seem to only have one formula. Another would be Jack Harlow. This man, objectively, only really has two real hits and one of those was a feature on a song by Lil Nas X.
The KPOP market has also become incredibly saturated. There are just too many groups and artists competing for a limited audience. Realistically speaking the chance a group will have even a fraction of the success that BTS, BLACKPINK, or NCT had is minimal. This is due to the fact that debuting from a good company with the funds to promote you is so competitive. These days in the KPOP world, those debuting already had a platform, either from being in groups previously, being on a survival show, or having popular senior groups from your company. And because everybody wants success and to make money, they follow the same formula that successful groups. This can usually be characterized as either the girl or boy crush concept, or the cutesy concept. And like all music these days it’s all electronic sounds or synth pop.
With all art forms there is supposed to be a deeper meaning. With visual art, the artist may have something in mind, but it is up to the viewer to interpret it. With modern art, nothing is left to the imagination. The composition of it, however, does tell a story. A story of how minimal effort was put in and some random meaning was made up. With the homes we live in and the buildings we spend time in, everything has become so monotone and so unnatural. There is a lack of character and charm. Artists of all mediums need to bring back originality or just effort. Lazy just doesn’t cut it.
