Fart As Art
The Emporer's New Clothes
A great deal of art is not only powerful to the senses, but benefits from thoughtful and lengthy consideration, however, when an artwork fails to connect with you, consider whether it may be a case of the emperor's new clothes. This refers to a cautionary story of when people believe, or pretend to believe, in the worth or importance of something that is in truth, worthless. Some also fear to point out an obvious truth that is counter to the prevailing opinion.
When a person stands bewildered and full with self doubt as they look on or experience an artwork, it has failed. Failed to move or connect emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically, or spiritually. At times this failure is not merely the result of a mismatch between the onlooker and the artwork, but that there is in truth little of value to receive.
I have lost count of the times I have experienced something in a gallery that purports to be more than it is, that pretends to be art. These works have at times generated vast sums of money, and this illustrates that the marketplace has nothing at all to do with the value of art. Trust your instincts. If art does not connect with you, interrogate it, question its care, its substance, and skill.
Fart As Art could be presented in a gallery as 'performance art'. Perhaps the 'artwork' could be accompanied by copious notes that present political commentary about the nature of contemporary art, and the smoke and mirrors that so often surround it. Art critics may view this as conceptual art. It is not art, but simply an idea. The placement of ideas in cultural settings does not make them art.
