What is your opinion on abstract/modern art?

Should abstract art be considered art? Is it just lovely? Let's discuss!

Bah, art was better before 13
I'm an abstract artist 1
I'm an artist, but not abstract art 1
Looks a bit like the art I did in nursery 3
Love Abstract art! 8
Dont really see the point of art in general 2
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Comments ( 53 )
  • JellyBeanBandit

    It's ridiculous. It's just people making up bullshit to themselves about why it's apparently so profound, in order to feel like they're so much more introspective and deep than other people. It's also unbelievable how successful a scam it is, the way they've associated it with high class in order to pressure millionaires into paying thousands for utter trash by making them worry about what their snooty friends think of them.

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    • "This line on this blank canvas represents the poverty line in our society and its a serious issue"
      -Millionaire abstract artist scammer whos never dontated to charity in their life

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    • Boojum

      I read a news report last week about an exhibition where a work was being displayed which had actually been created by random people using spray paint on some sort of portable surface. I guess that, at some point, the "artist" (although it sounds like he was more of an observer than an active participant in the creation of the mess) declared that the work had reached the point of perfection and was therefore finished. Or maybe he finally reached peak-ennui. Or perhaps he recalled that his rent or car payment was due.

      When the gallery was putting up the piece for display, they left the partially-used spray cans arranged in front of it, since the artist had declared that they were an element of the work. During the time the piece was displayed, a disaster occurred that absolutely nobody could ever have anticipated (or at least it was something that nobody who worked at the gallery was capable of anticipating). A couple came along, looked at the random graffiti spewed on the wall, looked at the spray cans, and decided they must be an invitation for them to add their own flourishes to the piece.

      Cue shrieks of horror on the part of art lovers everywhere! The integrity of this precious piece of art had been destroyed by a couple of random amateurs! I can't recall the figure given for how much it will take to "restore" the piece to its previous pristine glory, but I think it was something north of $10,000.

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      • oH No! THeY ruIneD iT? The InTeGrITy iS DisTRoYed!11!1

        I swear, if you showed the artist the piece without knowing about the couple, he legit would not have noticed.

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    • BatterMilk

      You're thinking way too much into this than you should be, art is subjective which means people can place however much they can into it.

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      • JellyBeanBandit

        But most of this abstract art is so plain and random that you could say that any random scribbling is art. And if anything is art, then nothing is really art. So it devalues good art to say that abstract art is just as valid an artform. Why spend years mastering the craft of painting when I can draw some lines and then bullshit about why it's art? I don't think art should be about "how it makes you feel", I think people feel deeply emotional about abstract art simply because they're overly emotional and dramatic.

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        • BatterMilk

          How much time you put into something does not mean that it should be valued more so than others. Being skilled just means that you have more experience in the craft, it doesn't mean that you are better than other people. Art is a form of visual expression so if something doesn't make you feel anything how are you going to connect to it?

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          • JellyBeanBandit

            Well a skill that takes years to master should be valued more than a skill that takes much less time. I'm not saying skilled people are better than other people, but I am saying skilled artists are better than other artists. I get that art is subjective, but I do think there are some general features of it that are objectively good, that the vast majority of people would agree with, like how realistic it looks.

            I agree that you need to feel a connection to it, but much more people feel connected to the more traditional art than they do to abstract art. I'd say at least half of the people who like abstract art are just fooling themselves that they like it, because they're apparently supposed to like it because the art experts tell them that they should, and they don't want to feel stupid thinking that they don't understand it.

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  • MonteMetcalfe

    Poopy Caca Doodie.

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    • the actual fuck?

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      • MonteMetcalfe

        Well you wanted my opinion.

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        • lol okay

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  • Boojum

    A lot of modern art is pretentious, inconsequential nonsense. A major function of art schools is to produce graduates who can spew pretentious BS to critics and other pretentious bullshitters, allowing them all to feel like they're very important and so much more sensitive and attuned to the zeitgeist (or some other equally pretentious term) than all us insensitive, unfeeling clods who never went to art school.

    Having said that, there is some modern art I like. For example, I find some of Rothko's canvasses appealing, although, since I never learned how to bullshit like an art school graduate, I couldn't tell you why.

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    • lol *Tries to bullshit like an art studen but F l o p s*

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  • my_life_my_way

    I absolutely hate it. Some of my more unemployed friends have tried to convince me that I’m just not intelligent or deep enough to appreciate art but in reality they know just as well as I do that it’s meaningless shit and most of it isn’t even pretty to look at. Throw it all on the fire, sizzle sizzle

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    • BatterMilk

      That's exactly what the nazis did, when they invaded other countries.

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      • They did that to literature, not spray painted million dollar lines

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      • my_life_my_way

        And just that one time, they were right

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    • lol

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  • jethro

    Not my cup of tea. It make no sense to me.

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    • same

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  • sillygirl77

    Where's can I vote it just looks like random lines,cirles and shapes and I want to know why my similar kindergarten art isn't in a museum of modern art :P?

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    • lool imma try add that

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      • sillygirl77

        LOL thanks :)

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  • LloydAsher

    It's called quality and its something modern art has lost. What happened to people painting landscapes? I'd buy that over a simple picture.

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    • Yup, we need more landscapes

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  • ellnell

    I'm neutral to it.

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    • A stance everyone should first take on something

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  • thats whats life is all about. no fun

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  • 1WeirdGuy

    We took a field trip to an art gallery in school I got kicked out for making fun of the abstract art. Who the hell scammed these art museums? Looks like they shot it with a paintball gun and sold it for millions

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    • wow okayyy

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      • 1WeirdGuy

        It could literally be just shit on and smeared around and the museum would say "this is a vandingo! Worth millions!"

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        • I- I'd rather you wouldn't

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  • mochi

    it’s beautiful to me

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    • Whatever floats your goat

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  • pasta_father

    I like the art where they have the naked womans

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    • dewd keep it inyo pants

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  • lukeuser

    Not all modern art is abstract, not by a long shot. Most abstract artists can also do more traditional art, so it's not like it's about forgetting the value of more traditional fine art (which a lot of detractors seem to miss), it's just about moving forward in different directions. Honestly, most of it I don't really like. I think there's something comforting about seeing some recognisable reflection of reality, so I tend to find it quite cold.

    There no option for this, but my view is that all the different types of art are valid. I really like some modern and contemporary (but not abstract) art, and lots of figurative (non-abstract) art is currently being made.

    Also, I do have a problem when money is controlling what type of art is being made. As long as it is happening 'organically', I'm happy to call it art (because that means an individual has felt moved to create it).

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    • That is a very well thought out opinion…And yes, I find that sometimes abstract art is kind of cold.

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  • Inkmaster

    Examples of modern art include a banana taped to a wall and an empty garbage can. I am not even joking. I don't care what anyone says, a banana taped to a wall and an empty garbage can are not art, abstract or otherwise.

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    • whAt goes on with art these days

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  • BleedingPain

    This is my favorite painting of all time. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/63979/the-red-table

    This masterpiece (and others of its style) really captures the essence of what its like to have ADHD for me.

    (Also because when I saw it on display, I immediately thought “transformers, tables in the sky”)

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    • woaH, now that's the only abstract art I will tolerate.

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      • BleedingPain

        Im glad I could enlighten your mind a bit ;)

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  • Pilum

    The aesthetic looks okay on some. But it's all totally empty. Art is supposed to convey an idea or an emotion. All this does is add a weird... 'abstract' vibe to the room. I don't consider that a good thing.

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    • sorta, yh

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  • olderdude-xx

    Art is in the eyes of the beholder.

    Some modern art I like, some I don't understand at all why it is called art.

    I might point out that some of what was considered art many years (or centuries) ago I like, and some I don't understand at all why it is called art.

    At least I'm not age biased :)

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    • Exactly. Art is in the eyes of the beholder. At the end of the day what is art and what isn't?

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  • Meatballsandwich

    Classical art is better

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    • hear hear

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  • Why shouldn't abstract not be considered at?

    There are lots of weird styles, like cubism. But over the course of time, professionals have agreed that they functionally exist

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    • Well, most of the time abstract art is really just lines and random shapes scattered on canvas. I see it more as aesthetically pleasing to the eye than actuall ar... However, you do have a point. How do we gatekeep art n separate the wheat from the chaff?

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      • Clunk42

        I say that if a depiction "represents" something, without actually depicting anything that isn't just a basic shape, it should not be considered art. Like, at least a few ovals put together can look like a person, or you could make images that clearly look like nature using only squares.

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