ArtInTheAgeOfEntitlement

 

Art in an Age of Entitlement: Artists, Aesthetic Cruelty, and the Culture of Convenience

This framework ties the themes of narcissism, entitlement, and cruelty directly to the art world, providing historical and contemporary examples that illustrate the interplay between society and its art. It also highlights the potential for art to resist these dynamics and foster empathy and humanity.

I. Introduction: Art as Reflection and Product of Its Time

• Thesis: Art and artists are both products of and responses to their cultural contexts. In an era dominated by narcissism, entitlement, and disposability, the themes of emotional numbness, cruelty, and dehumanization manifest not only in art appreciation but in the creation and treatment of artists themselves.

• Historical lens: How art and artists in this period mirror societal trends, such as the aestheticization of suffering and the erosion of empathy, and how they resist or embrace these dynamics.

II. Emotional Numbing and the Disposability of Artists

1. Art as a Commodity in Convenience Culture:

• Example: The rise of digital art marketplaces like NFTs commodifies creativity into instant transactions, often prioritizing profit over meaning.

• Artists become disposable producers of consumable assets, akin to fast fashion or single-use items.

• Critique: Banksy’s Shredded Girl with Balloon (2018) as a commentary on the commodification of art; the act of destruction heightened its market value, illustrating the absurdity of art as mere currency.

2. The Decline of Craftsmanship and Skill:

• AI-generated art challenges traditional artistic skills. Programs like MidJourney and DALL·E allow anyone to “create” art without effort or understanding.

• Example: AI-generated works winning competitions, such as the Colorado State Fair’s 2022 digital art award, displacing human artists who invested time and emotion into their craft.

3. Artists as Starving Creators in a Narcissistic Society:

• The trope of the “starving artist” persists, but in a society valuing convenience over effort, their struggle is romanticized rather than supported.

• Example: The late-career exploitation of artists like Vincent van Gogh, whose suffering is often fetishized as intrinsic to his genius while neglecting the systemic failures that contributed to his poverty and alienation.

III. The Aestheticization of Misfortune in Art

1. Suffering as Spectacle:

• Modern audiences consume art that showcases pain and misfortune not for empathy but as aesthetic intrigue.

• Example: Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ (1987), which generated outrage and fascination, reflecting a cultural divide between genuine religious critique and the aestheticization of sacrilege.

• Exploitation of marginalized voices as aesthetic tokens: Artists whose trauma is commodified for consumption without addressing systemic issues.

2. Cruelty in the Art World:

• The competitive art market often pits artists against each other, rewarding shock value and controversy over substance.

• Example: Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019), a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold for $120,000. The absurdity lies in its commentary on the art market’s detachment from craft and meaning, but it also reflects a culture that finds humor in its own lack of seriousness.

IV. Orchestrating Cruelty and the Rise of Aesthetic Sadism

1. The Role of the Audience in Cruelty:

• Art that invites cruelty: Interactive or participatory works where audiences engage with acts of destruction.

• Example: Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece (1964), where viewers cut away pieces of her clothing, symbolizing vulnerability, objectification, and the latent cruelty in public participation.

• Modern parallel: Online art competitions or viral challenges where artists face public ridicule or exploitation.

2. Trolling and Online Cruelty as Art:

• Artists who intentionally provoke or manipulate audiences to expose societal cruelty.

• Example: Amalia Ulman’s Excellences & Perfections (2014), a performance on Instagram, parodied influencer culture, revealing the audience’s complicity in consuming and endorsing superficiality and manipulation.

V. Art and the Normalization of Inequality

1. Art’s Role in Reinforcing Power Dynamics:

• Works that glorify dominance and submission, intentionally or inadvertently, reflect a culture embracing inequality.

• Example: Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God (2007), a diamond-encrusted skull, symbolizes wealth and excess, celebrated as a status object while ignoring the dehumanizing labor and inequality underlying its creation.

2. Media and the Aesthetic of Oppression:

• Popular culture increasingly incorporates themes of dominance and cruelty as thrilling or aspirational.

• Example: Films like The Hunger Games (2012), where suffering and oppression are dramatized for entertainment, risk reinforcing the voyeuristic consumption of inequality rather than inspiring resistance.

VI. Resistance and Reclamation in Contemporary Art

1. Artists Challenging Convenience Culture:

• Movements emphasizing slow, traditional, or communal art forms resist the culture of disposability.

• Example: The resurgence of craft movements like hand-weaving, ceramics, or printmaking emphasizes labor and connection.

2. Empathy as Art’s Counter-Culture:

• Art as a tool for restoring emotional engagement and human connection.

• Example: Marina Abramović’s The Artist Is Present (2010), where visitors sat silently across from Abramović, challenged the fast-paced, numbed culture of convenience by creating a moment of raw, unmediated human connection.

VII. Conclusion: Art, Cruelty, and the Future of Empathy

• Art both reflects and shapes its cultural moment, and the current era’s focus on convenience, disposability, and entitlement has led to a dehumanization of creators and an aestheticization of cruelty.

• To counter these trends, art must reclaim its role as a medium for empathy, connection, and resistance, prioritizing human engagement over commodification.

• The future of art lies in challenging the norms of narcissism and disposability, re-centering humanity in the creative process.

This blog is part of a series entitled The Fragile Canvas.