Modern Times

It's a new world out there, a new media age, the old ideas of art, commerce and sales are being transformed into something...er...exactly what, now?

My local small-city newspaper has a story about a new art exhibit opening at a local gallery this week. The artist, a young man, is "CEO of his own art brand," the story claims. He says, "I decided I needed a way to bring all my artwork together in a brand."

Pardon me for being a curmudgeon (and would you damned kids get off my lawn???) but isn't this putting the brand before the horse, so to speak?

Don't you need to have a product of some kind before you brand it?

A recent graphic arts graduate, the artist's work consists of - and I quote the story -"him photographing women in fun situations."

He likes music and photography, having fun and the good life. Oh, and scantily clad young women. So his art celebrates that monumental and unique perspective, hoping to "inspire young people to live unbound through apparel" or "live a Southern California life style."

His show will include DJs and models and sales of apparel from his "line."

Read the story. "My art is very edgy and I hope it will be the next big thing."

No, it's not even that. Visit the guy's website. You'll see some unremarkable and utterly commonplace photos of attractive young people doing things that attractive young people do when they're partying - posing, drinking beer, wearing fashionable clothing. And scantily clad young women. Sort of like what you can see in any advertisement marketing any fashionable product, every minute of every day on every commercial outlet.

It's either the most breathtakingly cynical attempt to grift a living out of thin air - or it's a sad reflection of the utter shallowness of popular culture attempting to exploit the utter shallowness of the art world.

No, on second thought, it's both.

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