From a hair piece and pennies vibrating in a massage chair (Nina Beier, Parts) to a banana taped to a wall (Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian), contemporary art sometimes begs the question..."is this even art?" But what is "art"? When is something worthy of a museum feature? Can someone call themselves an artist if their work is a banana taped to a wall? And is a $150,000 price tag warranted when no "skill" in the trained mediums, like still life painting or marble sculpture, is required?
(Above: Nina Beier, Parts, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland — Video: Odessa Hott, July 2024)
WHAT IS ART?
It's a big question...and, in my experience, not one with a definitive answer. I have adopted the mindset that everything is, in some way, "art". This includes everything from a Picasso to a banana taped to a wall to a crack in the sidewalk to a mere idea. Now, what can be labeled as "good" art is another question entirely, and also one with no definitive answer. As a family friend liked to say, "good art is art that I like."
Good art is art that I like.
— A family friend
This being said, some parameters have been developed and discussed regarding contemporary art as a movement. While these parameters are not necessarily immutable—in my view, contemporary art is powerfully distinguished by its fluidity and infinitely interpretive nature—they provide some context to aid our understanding of the movement.
The term contemporary art is loosely used to refer to art of the present day and of the relatively recent past, of an innovatory or avant-garde nature.
Some consider contemporary art pretentious—I suppose it can be depending on how you look at it. The idea that anyone can make art—that anyone can have an idea and communicate it through whatever creative, artistic means they choose—is foundational to the importance and necessity of art in all its forms. Access is critical to artistic expression. While still life painting and marble sculpture demand a degree of mastery to constitute the medium at its finest, contemporary art is virtually boundless beyond its relation to the "now", that is, themes existing in the zeitgeist of a given time. This means that, yes, anyone can create "art" regardless of training or expertise or mastery. In their own right, everyone is an artist just by existing.
Access to observing, creating, and sharing artistic ideas is an age-old foundation of humanity, from cave paintings to modern mediums. Since the beginning of time, humans have used artistry to propel societies forward. At some point, all artwork, including those accepted as "real art" by today's standards, were likely considered "absurd" or "unconventional". To create art in spite of conventions is a valuable form of revolution, affecting change beyond the world of art.
Throughout history, art and artists have been critical to protest, resistance, and liberation. When we need innovative ways to make social commentary and build community, particularly in the face of political or social retaliation and oppression, we rely on artists to find unconventional avenues of expression that embody our collective feelings and stimulate dialogue and action. In doing this, artists must constantly bend and reshape the very concept of art, regardless of whether everyone understands. Evolution is essential to artistic expression. Without it, we would likely still only know cave paintings...perhaps not even that. The transformative nature of art, especially contemporary art, pushes us to question accepted truths and invites us to challenge even our most deeply held beliefs so that we may progress to the next iteration of an enlightened society.
What I find most beautiful about contemporary art, despite the fact that some may find it "weird" or "unartistic" or "lazy" or "bogus" (all descriptors I have witnessed), is that it can defy the boundaries of what we know and expect from traditional art. It confronts the idea that it takes accepted skill and talent and training to call oneself an artist. In a way, contemporary art views us all as artists.
Sometimes contemporary art is straightforward in meaning. Other times, it looks like someone stuck a 60 cent banana to a wall with household duct tape and called it "art". The artist's intent provides one context. The audience's interpretation expands the narrative, whether aligned with the artist's idea or not. In this way, even the "absurd" can begin to make sense. Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan (a banana taped to a wall) explores what we value and how those values are shaped by virality in our hyperconnected world. The banana and the duct tape are prompts for a deeper discussion about what captures our attention and why? Why are we so fixated by a banana taped to a wall and why does it make some people laugh, some contemplate, and others scoff? Why do people swarm for selfies when it's "just" a banana taped to a wall? Is it still art or a social experiment? Is it both? The fact that the answer to all these questions can be "yes"...but also "no"...is somehow poetic. No one opinion is right or wrong. It is all a matter of perspective.
Some argue that message is less important than medium itself. In other words, the medium is the message (McLuhan, 1964). A leader in modern cultural psychology and media theory, Marshall McLuhan suggested that "the medium is the message", suggesting that the medium we choose shapes the message we convey. The medium itself collaborates in making meaning. McLuhan believed that the avenue through which a message is delivered has a significant impact on how it is perceived. In this way, the argument that an artist's message is what legitimizes the work, is challenged. That is, if instead of a banana, Cattelan taped a telephone to the wall, our perception would be fundamentally altered.
The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium — that is, of any extension of ourselves — results from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.
— Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, 1964
Despite there being accepted definitions of contemporary art, differing opinions exist. My own understanding expands beyond just the contemporary movement.
The mindset that "everything is art" is not as simple as deciding what belongs in a museum. For me, believing that art can be found in anyone, anywhere, is a means of cutting through the iniquities of life to find hopefulness, connection, deeper meaning, and purpose. Contemporary art—art itself—allows us to contextualize all that happens around us and within us when conventions are inadequate. Rule-bending is artistic tradition.
This is not to say that everything is automatically considered contemporary art (and connoisseurs likely resent this assumption.) Yet, it is also reasonable to believe that anything can become contemporary art depending on the relevance of its subject matter to society at any given time.
Whether you agree that a banana taped to a wall is art or isn't, that banana, that duct tape, that wall, and the amalgamation of all three combined with the artists' intent opens a dialogue. In fact, it isn't actually about whether or not the banana is art at all. It's about the conversation it stirs. The artist asks you to consider the seemingly absurd and laughable and "non-art" as a way of understanding an idea in a different way. There is not "right" answer. But there is also no "wrong" answer. Your interpretation is your interpretation. You are challenged to examine your own response to the question "is it art?". No matter your reply, the beauty of contemporary art lies not in the answers it provides, but in the questions it sparks, urging us to explore and challenge our own definitions of creativity.
Additional context:
Duct-Taped Banana Sells at Sotheby's for $6.2 million — Diet Prada, November 21, 2024, Instagram
For $84,000, An Artist Returned Two Blank Canvasses Titled 'Take The Money And Run' — Bill Chappell, September 29, 2021, NPR
Art, Protest, and Public Space — Ashley E. Dunn, Constance C. McPhee & Allison Rudnick, October 1, 2021, The Metropolitan Museum
4 Conditions for an Artwork To Be Contemporary (& Why Artists Need To Know Them) — Contemporary Art Issue, September 3, 2023
Making Sense of Contemporary Art: Can Art Be Anything? — Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, 2023
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