| rich people have to buy sculptures made of human dung just to keep up.
This explanation of modern art seems incomplete. For many artists now, bleeding edge art is an exercise in “conceptual” problem solving and game-playing. (For discussion see, e.g., Kosuth 1969.) The economic forces described by Bell/Pinker do put selection pressure on which art gets distributed, displayed and, to a small extent, produced. But to describe these pressures without some reference to the noble and useful productions behind them seems to imply the common error of dismissing modern art as a bluff, a bullshit or some other mostly-useless activity.
I’m sure there is modern art that is bullshit. There may also be modern art that isn’t. (There may even be ways to look at a single artwork and say that it’s bullshit on one dimension, but great art on another dimension.)
| rich people have to buy sculptures made of human dung just to keep up.
This explanation of modern art seems incomplete. For many artists now, bleeding edge art is an exercise in “conceptual” problem solving and game-playing. (For discussion see, e.g., Kosuth 1969.) The economic forces described by Bell/Pinker do put selection pressure on which art gets distributed, displayed and, to a small extent, produced. But to describe these pressures without some reference to the noble and useful productions behind them seems to imply the common error of dismissing modern art as a bluff, a bullshit or some other mostly-useless activity.
“Modern art is either a noble activity, or bullshit.” ⇐ If there is some noble and useful aspect to modern art, then this is a false dichotomy.
I don’t understand.
I’m sure there is modern art that is bullshit. There may also be modern art that isn’t. (There may even be ways to look at a single artwork and say that it’s bullshit on one dimension, but great art on another dimension.)
OK. I agree.
It follows that he thinks modern art is definitely bullshit.