Why Is Today's Art So Meaningless

The art world demands sacrifices. Cease to do the time, and you are out.

I am reminded of a Russian artist who won notoriety in curatorial circles in the West following perestroika. He would go down on all fours at art shows, barking like a dog and biting art connoisseurs' ankles. "That's great," I told him, speaking as an older and more experienced artist. "But the problem is that to keep the art world interested, you will have to bark and bite for the rest of your life." Unfortunately, he switched to some more sensible artistic pursuit and abruptly disappeared from the scene.

So whether one paints the date, defaces walls, splatters Rust-Oleum or imitates man's best friend, today's art victimizes all who join its revolution. The history of cultural upheaval is a long and perilous one, and modern art is only one of its recent developments. But those who climb to the top of art's lofty pillar are constrained to stand until they can stand no more, until whatever meaning their rectitude originally had has been lost in a vortex of senseless repetition. The art world can't help but be pleased with the efforts of its victims -- there's money to be made, after all. But there are those of us who watch these developments with increasing alarm, wondering if the art world will ever wake up. The saving grace is that art's machinations generally have little effect on the rest of the globe. That may be the reason that art -- especially today's art -- "is the only human activity that does not lead to killing." Contemporary art has made itself so meaningless that nobody can be bothered to pull the trigger over it.

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