Let yourself be heard.  Voice your opinion on the subject.

Hasan | Developer

After a series of albums, paintings, posters, websites, events, labels, publishing companies etc, etc, etc. (1993-2010)

I must say that art is dead (for me). It served its purpose. I must admit. I was pretty good, but everyone kept saying. "YOU CAN BE BETTER." I didnt want to be better. I didnt want what better meant to me. When i heard better i heard ""FAME"".

So know i am an ARTSY PROFESSIONAL. Placing products and showing other artist how to do the same.

I simply dont believe in art as a medium in and of itself. its a road only.

In fact, I find myself drifting towards a neo-visionary art form in music and print.

What is this? dont be mistaken i can still do art and not believe in it.

Does anyone question the sincerity of a fast food worker when there bag of hot food is ready. Not at All.

So i carry on in this fashion. Art is just work! And its good work when you can get it.


Anonymous

I like that your story begins with the failure of education. How can we expect visual art to matter to the younger generations if they're totally ignorant of it? I'd boil art's death spiral down to these realities:

1. At least for modernism if not for postmodernism, most everything's been done. Only pockets and niches remain.

2. Original art is coveted only by the upper middle and very wealthy classes, and it's more about investing in "cool" expensive wallpaper than seeking social commentary. The lower classes are satisfied with cheap prints, posters, or the sad attempts of local enthusiasts and Sunday painters.

3. For younger generations, paintings and sculpture simply can't compete with immersive films and video games. Young people are increasingly ignorant of basic history let alone art history. Thus, those who can draw are more tempted to pursue animation than paint the next Guernica. They barely had a conception of original expression in the first place, and are all-too-happy to join in the shallow contest for "cool."
It's not just art that's dead - it's the coming intellectual apocalypse.


Ezra Parzybok | Artist/Art Teacher

The closest example of a living artist who's currently impacting society is someone like Stephen Colbert (though he is not a visual artist.)This is because there is nothing left to say, via an object presented in a gallery, that hasn't been said already by an object already in a museum or park or film or by a ready-made object.

I believe the next step for artists is not objects but action. One can still be an artist, but the difference is they will not DO art- they have to figure out what it means to be an artist before they do anything. This is why art is dead- people have only been DOING art, essentially manufacturing objects for economic exchange. Few actually realize what it means to BE an artist.

Since art is now defined as anything we frame as art, everything and every moment in the entire world becomes art, equally. Therefore artists have to learn to frame every thing and every instance as something of beauty. If there is not beauty in what they are doing every moment- from waking to sleep- then their job as artists is to transform each moment into something that was more beautiful than if they had done nothing.

This includes their own mind. If you are an artists who cuts your ear off to send it to your girlfriend, as it were, then you need to make your mind- your own sanity- your next art project. Drop the brushes and get some help because nothing you paint is going to be more important (especially now that art is dead) than carving out the imperfections that exist in your mind or your life. Essentially I think artists need to stop making things and grow up a bit. The Van Gogh lifestyle is no longer romantic- it's pathetic.

Thank goodness there's enough great art out there in museums- much like all the beautiful dinosaurs bones; extinct, but inspiring nonetheless.

Ajya Phoenix | Artist/Student

Art is the cultural regurgitation of society, reflecting and often directing the changes social collectives experience. Collapse the illusion of the elitest art world!

We, those who call ourselves artists, must be wary against the art world fantasy that capitalist market traders have fed us. Artists have been turned into fetishized cultural commodities, who the powerful and elite determine the value of and cash in on the profit from. They profit from our labors (some artists have taken advantage of the capitalist system and hire out the ever de-valued art laborer, called "artisans"; at any rate those who labor the most make the least), and in exchange convince us that being enslaved into "success" (i.e. continuing to produce within a brandable style they can sell) is what we should strive for, drive ourselves toward, and starve for. Why should this be our highest goal, why should we think this is success? Art schools churn out hundreds of thousands of artists hoping to be in the small percentage of people who acheive any amount of decent recognition in their own lifetime and what is to happen of the rest? They keep on producing, hoping it will be their turn next, keeping up the lower echelons of the art market.

If all those hundreds of thousands of people used all the creative energy and money spent on the ladder climb (of which most never get past the first few rungs) instead spent their energy on building up the world around them, how quickly would the world change? The irony is that many artists believe themselves to be anti-capitalist, but still participate in the art-world lie. Bring it down, tear down the tower, give the power of creative ownership to everyone!

James Klein, Creative Director
Is Art Dead? The question begs different answers each time it's asked. In a creative sense the answer for me would have to be no, not really. Creativity to produce art is still very much alive although it may be a bit lost.

Appreciation for Art is definitely dead. Middle class America does not have the time, money or (why not say it) the sensibility for the Arts. People who have the money to patron the arts lack sophistication and understanding and only perceive an artist by his/hers ability to produce...money!

VanGough could not give away his paintings when he was alive and today a scribble will command millions, why? commercialization of ART. Everything is a business in this country, from birth right down to dying, it all has it's price. Most so called Artist only become interested in Art as a means to make money "doing something fun"... An artist that creates just because his will dictates it is a rare specimen and not only are they hard to find, but their art is lost in the quagmire of commercialization that eclipses everything and everyone. We are programmed by large corporations telling us what is cool and what is not, what looks good and what not... Is ART DEAD? no, it is evolving into something else... adapting, overcoming, but not dead... I'll tell you what is dead... Creativity, originality, uniqueness, intelligence, our liberties and Elvis!