I Hate The Word Artsy


There is something about the word artsy that really pisses me off. It's like when I'm called artsy it's similar to calling someone who is just trying to dress uniquely and unconventionally a hipster. It's a fucking slap in the face and I'm tired of people using that word to describe anything that isn't stale and commercial. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of beautiful artistic commercial work but a lot of the times it's bland, spoon fed, un-intersting and superficial. When people call me or my work artsy I'm not quite sure what they mean. If it is supposed to be a compliment or a veiled way of saying weird and strange. I feel like there are a lot of people out there who use the word to describe things they don't understand. Like God or energy or math. I also feel like there are people who use the word to give depth to something that doesn't have it. Like captioning a photo with "Oh I was feeling artsy today." What the fuck does that even mean? Were you feeling creative, inspired, in tune with the world around you, idiosyncratic and individualistic? Or were you just wearing a lot of colors like a peacock or maybe just all black like the Existentialist movement? Perhaps it's just a case of I know it when I see it but to me artsy is like making a "type" of artists. There are so many different and varying kinds of artists and art out there so to call something artsy in my opinion is diminishing what art is and the people who make it. Really I just wanted to vent about my feelings towards the word artsy. Does anyone else think there is something fucked up with the word artsy or am I all alone on this one?