3 ms·
Poor communication only becomes enculturated when it has some larger economic purpose. In the art world, it's all a game to win funding. This type of art is no
by sunir 17y ago
Poor communication only becomes enculturated when it has some larger economic purpose.
In the art world, it's all a game to win funding. This type of art is not aimed at the general audience, but--if you bear with what seems like weird conspiratorial mumbo jumbo--about making a certain class of elites feel and appear smarter when dealing with their peers.
The elites are the public funding boards and the private patrons. For the public funders, they need to defend their grants, so they need suitable language from the artist that makes the art seem incredibly important, intelligent, etc. so they can defend their decisions. For the private funder, it's the thrill of showing off. It's the same reason you hang beautiful pictures on your wall. Sure it's for your own pleasure, but it's also for the pleasure of seeing others appreciate your taste.
One way to accomplish both goals is to be inscrutable. That confuses and intimidates people, and can make them afraid to challenge you.
To give you another context where poor communication is used to serve an economic end, you'll find the same tactic in sales. If you ever wondered why an enterprise software company's website doesn't make any sense, it's to confuse you enough to pick up the phone and call a salesperson who can then relationship sell you.
- unalone 17y agoAs I said: Half the time I agree with you, and it's pretense for the sake of pretense. The rest of the time - more often, in fact, in my age group - it's people who just know big words and use them like it's part of their vocabulary. Hell, I'm guilty of the same thing, to a lesser degree. I speak the way I type, occasional digressions into grander vocabulary and all, and I'm frequently asked why I use such large words. Personally, I don't think words like "digression", "voluptuous" (a personal favorite), and "grandiose" are that difficult, but other people disagree, and I've been called an artsy-fart more than once. It's the same reason you hang beautiful pictures on your wall. Sure it's for your own pleasure, but it's also for the pleasure of seeing others appreciate your taste. I'm going to have to disagree and defend the honest artist here. As a purveyor of beautiful things myself, I can say that I don't care about other people's opinions of my taste. However, I still do seek out said beautiful things, entirely for myself. I spent this weekend buying diningware and silverware, and if I hadn't been looking for stuff I really connected with I could have left the store a hundred dollars richer. As it is, I care much more about having an emotive connection with the things I own and see and use than I do about saving money, which I know sounds like bullshit but is a philosophy I still agree with.
- sunir 17y agoPlease don't take my comment to imply all art is this way. I'm just saying that artists who join this culture of obfuscation are doing so because there are buyers who like or depend on it.