Investigations on the cultural economy of media art

There’s no single way of determining what is quality art and what is crap. The general theory is that the art world determines what’s good art or not, based on George Dickies institutional theory of art (look it up if you don’t believe me). Now, this is both very confusing and very potent. As this system follows zero logic, and no one really knows what’s good or bad, and particularly, why something good is good. That basically means that you can create whatever you want right and then just hope that the art world determines it as quality good work, and if it doesn’t, just make something new and then maybe that’ll work? Well, so it’s a bit more complicated than that. The art world loves context, and a work from an unknown artist without context is automatically bad art. The context and the discourse drives everything. So in order to create some quality art you need a convincing story, a relevant topic and excellent execution. At least in the beginning of your career. Ok, so but since the art world decides what’s good and bad art, and the art world is a type of loosely connected network of different players, artists, curators, directors, collectors, critics, art advisors, who decides who’s in and not? And how come that it’s not possible for anyone to just join in and become part of this very exclusive world of passing judgement? So, this I’d like to attribute to the art world conspiracy, the current status quo that at the same time makes sure that the art world stays the art world and puts fuel on the ‘the art world is such an exclusive place, “I don’t even get a single thing of this work”’ fire. Since the art world decides, it’s in its best interest to protect this, if anyone could decide what’s good or bad, people would quickly realise that most art is very bad, and there simply isn’t something more than meets the eye. So in order to maintain the mystery, everyone within the art world maintains this position, that there is something more, something that’s difficult to describe, something special, something that the everyday person outside of art can’t possibly understand, because if they could, it wouldn’t be art now would it? So the art world conspiracy, is in essence the system that’s in place to maintain the mystery surrounding art (while there really isn’t one). It’s kinda like the emperors new clothes, all over again and again and again.

– I don’t get it, maybe I’m too stupid but I even have a master in art history – What wait, what if there’s nothing to get?

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