Is art being dumbed down? I feel as if a monkey can understand modern ''''''art''''''

[Husseinisdoingfine]

Greeting forum.

So when browsing this forum I notice someone posted a music video, this was a modern tech song but it was this:

Huh? Why is she singing so monotone, why does the base sound like a single person beating a drum repeatedly? Why does she curse without adding any substances to the song? She's not singing, she's talkiing.

That was music, now for ''''''art'''''. I found this channel called 'Foodart/Philosophyart' and they made an episode about spiral dynamics:

And they made another video about Alan Watts:

Huh? What in the actual fuck is this? Is this supposed to be art? It's just two Lesbians painting their corpses in an unpattern way with horrific editing. In the second video it's the same thing but they're doing drugs and kissing each other. They do this while some audio recording plays with ZERO context.

My issue is not that these were Lesbians, I am not a homophobe. I don't have an issue with the drugs either, I do have an issue with the horrific editing. My issue is that this is being passed on as art. Any monkey can through paint over their unattractive corpses, and yet when they do it it's being passed on as art. 

Pop music on the radio now sucks, it's being dumbed down and made more simple. Any idiot can mash together clay and put it in a museum, it's getting so dumb. They actually did studies that those who did worse on the SAT prefer more simple music.

[Rilles]

9 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Pop music on the radio now sucks, it's being dumbed down and made more simple. Any idiot can mash together clay and put it in a museum, it's getting so dumb. They actually did studies that those who did worse on the SAT prefer more simple music.

Lol, pop music is not easy to make, if it is why dont you do it, make a top 10 hit that everybody loves. Dont be such an edgelord. There is tons of amazing art out there, avant.arte on Instagram has plenty of cool stuff. 

[Happy Lizard]

I agree this is horse shit.

however this is not really what I would consider common as art/music nowadays, this is just amateur work, which doesn't have to do with any art movement, generations or anything for that matter. 

[Husseinisdoingfine]

@Happy Lizard I'm using those examples to describe a larger cultural phenomenon

[Preety_India]

@Husseinisdoingfine  yea I agree with you.. 

If you compare the art and music of these days to something from the 18th century, that's a difference of heaven and earth.. 

People just cannot accomplish something like that anymore. 

One of the reason could be that people just don't want to work that hard these days. Back then a painting needed months or years to complete. But today artists want to create something within just a few days or weeks. You can't get something spectacular with little devotion or effort unless you're god gifted to produce great stuff with least stuff. 

Also there is tons of commercialization these days. Back then artists were devoted to a life of art, art was life and then lived by that code, they were truly passionate. It didn't matter whether the art was marketable or not. These days artists are more focused on money and how to generate it consistently through art, consequently the quality of the art suffers because the artist is trying to create something everyday, but a masterpiece is not created everyday or Everytime, it's once in a lifetime kind of a thing, but if every artist decided to wait an entire lifetime to create a masterpiece then they will go hungry. 

Also there is a general decline in values across the board, whether it be relationship, or career or entertainment, you can see celebrities acting trashy, cheating in relationships being more common, old values of integrity are dying out very fast, so the overall decline in wisdom and values is also reflected in art. 

 

[Megan Alecia]

Reality is perfect. If you're truly conscious you can find insight even from so-called bad art.

[seeking_brilliance]

It's spiralling. 

(backup answer : it's wheeling) 

[mmKay]

Everything is art. And there are degrees of quality and consciousness of art, depending of your criteria for judgement.

You wearing clothes is art. You making food is art. You speaking is art. You walking is art. You fucking is art.

The limits are in your perception and degree of awareness. Can you squat down to some dogshit and marvel at the beauty, structure, colour and mistery of the whole thing?

And then there is more traditional art. Music, filmmaking, painting, etc. There is more masterful art and less masterful art, and hundreds of other nuances.

Bad art is good and unique in its own way

Edited January 17 by mmKay

[Rilles]

22 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

@Husseinisdoingfine  yea I agree with you.. 

If you compare the art and music of these days to something from the 18th century, that's a difference of heaven and earth.. 

People just cannot accomplish something like that anymore. 

Yes they can, composers still exist. 

One of the reason could be that people just don't want to work that hard these days. Back then a painting needed months or years to complete. But today artists want to create something within just a few days or weeks.

Frank Ocean took 4 years to write an album, Tool took more than 10 years. 

You can't get something spectacular with little devotion or effort unless you're god gifted to produce great stuff with least stuff. 

Also there is tons of commercialization these days. Back then artists were devoted to a life of art, art was life and then lived by that code, they were truly passionate. It didn't matter whether the art was marketable or not. These days artists are more focused on money and how to generate it consistently through art, consequently the quality of the art suffers because the artist is trying to create something everyday,

You can still be passionate even when making money. Stop listening to only the radio. There is amazing music and art out there totally takes a dump on music made a 100 years ago. 

but a masterpiece is not created everyday or Everytime, it's once in a lifetime kind of a thing, but if every artist decided to wait an entire lifetime to create a masterpiece then they will go hungry. 

Also there is a general decline in values across the board, whether it be relationship, or career or entertainment, you can see celebrities acting trashy, cheating in relationships being more common, old values of integrity are dying out very fast, so the overall decline in wisdom and values is also reflected in art. 

 

 

[soos_mite_ah]

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Greeting forum.

So when browsing this forum I notice someone posted a music video, this was a modern tech song but it was this:

Huh? Why is she singing so monotone, why does the base sound like a single person beating a drum repeatedly? Why does she curse without adding any substances to the song? She's not singing, she's talkiing.

At first I thought the monotone singing was to go along with the theme of technology, how robotic it is, and how devoid of consciousness and empathy it can be. The whole song is critiquing scientism and the idea that we can solve society's issues by just making new technology instead of looking at and evaluating social problems. She mentions things like the horrors of colonization and how if we could colonize other planets we would and we would also ruin those environments as well with our selfishness and greed and how in many ways, we think we are so advanced because of our technology when really we haven't addressed the human condition nearly as much ("we are as flawed as any church"). I searched up her other music because I was just curious about her style in general and a lot of her music is geared around the pessimism green feels about an orange dystopian world. In a way, her monotone singing captures the mood of apathy, pessimism, and cynicism that people feel when they realize how mechanical and devoid of human spirit the systems of the world are. I can't say that this is my cup of tea when it comes to music but I can understand the stylistic choice and appreciate it in the context that it is in. 

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

 

And they made another video about Alan Watts:

Huh? What in the actual fuck is this? Is this supposed to be art? It's just two Lesbians painting their corpses in an unpattern way with horrific editing. In the second video it's the same thing but they're doing drugs and kissing each other. They do this while some audio recording plays with ZERO context.

My issue is not that these were Lesbians, I am not a homophobe. I don't have an issue with the drugs either, I do have an issue with the horrific editing. My issue is that this is being passed on as art. Any monkey can through paint over their unattractive corpses, and yet when they do it it's being passed on as art. 

I mean, art doesn't have to be this deep, well thought out, methodical thing. Sometimes art doesn't need to be analyzed, it just needs to be enjoyed whether that be from the audience's perspective or the creator's perspective. Honestly, these people look like they found some interesting content regarding spiral dynamics and alan watts and they were like "hey lets do something fun and something we think looks interesting" so they started painting each other because why tf not. The creation of art doesn't have to be something that is beautiful (or hell something that makes sense) to other people, sometimes it's for the creator and their release.  

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Pop music on the radio now sucks, it's being dumbed down and made more simple. Any idiot can mash together clay and put it in a museum, it's getting so dumb. They actually did studies that those who did worse on the SAT prefer more simple music.

This reminds me of the time I thought I was soooo deep and intellectual for liking alternative indie music instead of One Direction back when I was 14. Sometimes what we think is dumb is just a reflection of our inability to either understand or appreciate. That's not limited to art but to many ideas over the spectrum of consciousness (i.e. a stage orange person might think valuing your feelings is dumb and simplistic to their big technical logic brain and therefore they view stage green as a devolution that society is heading towards). And even if studies come up with that result, that doesn't mean that you can't expand beyond your horizons and appreciate "simpler music."  Idk I feel that this study might refer to people who only exclusively listen to pop music and don't want to explore beyond it because they either want simple background music or because they don't want to be seen as weird. That's my suspicion. But feel free to link it down below, I'm actually intrigued by this study. 

Edited January 17 by soos_mite_ah

[Husseinisdoingfine]

OSHO talking about those who cannot appreciate classical music are spiritually blind

He describes Jazz as being a bunch of crackpots making all kinds of noises.

[DocWatts]

Convince me that contemporary popular art, that music by 'Radiohead', popular films like 'Arrival' , and shows like 'Bojack Horsemen' are somehow shallow when compared to stuff like eighties hair metal music, Schwarzenegger action movies, and hilariously shallow older TV programs like 'The Brady Bunch', and I might begin to take this contention more seriously.

I'd contend that modern popular art is better than it's ever been; mostly because there's just more of it. And that will include more dumb stuff for sure, but also more intellectually and emotionally engaging things as well.

Edited January 17 by DocWatts

[Rilles]

10 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

He describes Jazz as being a bunch of crackpots making all kinds of noises.

Hes missing out. 

[soos_mite_ah]

21 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

OSHO talking about those who cannot appreciate classical music are spiritually blind

He describes Jazz as being a bunch of crackpots making all kinds of noises.

I find it difficult to not appreciate classical music. But just because I can appreciate that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate something like jazz lol. It's probably just his personal preference and that's perfectly fine. 

When it comes to art, have an open mind. Move towards things that make you uncomfortable so you can find beauty in that and expand your sense of appreciation and open mindedness. For some that might mean listening to more Mozart while for others it means listening to Megan Thee Stallion.  

Edited January 17 by soos_mite_ah

[zeroISinfinity]

I love art. Probably most authentic way of expression. 

Doesn't matter what. Sing, play, dance, paint etc all great. 

Don't judge it, understand it because it always comes from some place. 

Edited January 17 by zeroISinfinity

[Tim R]

Lol

He knew jack sh*t about jazz

Jazz is tremendously complicated and highly advanced music. 

[zeroISinfinity]

@Tim R It's considered as classical music if I am not wrong.

My sister is classical musician (from age 5 she played and was hitting music schools etc 20 years of education) and at music academy she learned to play jazz along side all classical music. 

Edited January 17 by zeroISinfinity

[Rilles]

7 minutes ago, Tim R said:

Lol

He knew jack sh*t about jazz

Jazz is tremendously complicated and highly advanced music. 

You could even make a case that its harder than classical since you have to improvise everything on the spot, not a miss a note, and not sound like shit.  Not to mention the super advanced chords and chord progressions that are rarely found in classical music. Very angular music. 

For the uninitiated.

Edited January 17 by Rilles

[Tim R]

Just now, zeroISinfinity said:

@Tim R It's considered as classical music if I am not wrong.

@zeroISinfinity Yes, it's around the same level of complexity, but vastly different structures.

I play the piano, both classical music and jazz and I can tell you; both aren't exactly easy to understand. And most certainly they aren't easy to learn, neither in theory nor practice.  

[zeroISinfinity]

My sister plays flute(pro) piano (pro) and violin. 

Now she is music teacher. 

Yes jazz was part of her education.