Recently there has been a bit of uproar at my school in the art department and the reasons behind this are lengthy and political but it got me thinking about the institutions that determine what will and will not be shown to the public. This results in what will and will not be recognized as art or as worthy and move forward in the realm of popularity but what is really happening is not the determination of good art but rather art that has value, not style.
In the art world it is the galleries and museums that run the game. Their empirical stamp of approval turns artists from starving into mega super stars, especially if one person likes your work enough to give you a solo show and know's the right people to have come to your show. In the fashion world the same thing goes for the magazines. They run designers, models, photographers and stylists careers. If you are featured in an editorial in Vogue under any of these titles you are suddenly the shit even though Vogue America is a shitty magazine (if you are a true fashion enthusiast I pray you agree). Now of course that is not to say that just because you are in a gallery or featured in a magazine then you are a sell out or not a good artist but rather that just because something is in these institutions doesn't make it good art.
It's mind boggling that we are still desperate for the approval of the institution even though many of us would agree that the institution is what ruins art in the fashion or fine art sense. We create real, authentic, heart throbbing work and then if it's not accepted by the magazine industry or within the gallery walls then it is suddenly not deemed good enough because it is not sale-able or commercial enough. It's too raw, too different; it doesn't fit within the institutions guidelines or parameters. We as the artists have the power to stop putting out bullshit sterile meaningless work by refusing to accept that that is what we have to do to be accepted. I refuse to accept that just because something is in Vogue or the MOMA then it is good. Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Or at least think about it.
Or at least think about it.