Post-Modernism, or something like that...

Although I call myself an Art Historian, I have yet to fully accept the kind of contemporary art that makes me feel slightly scared and very uncomfortable. The kind of art that is hideously ugly and disturbing, or the kind of art that simply makes no sense whatsoever. I try to imagine what the artists must have been thinking while piecing together such creations, and my mind cannot fathom it.

I can understand art that follows or comments upon the chronological flow of art history, and I can accept art that is pleasant to look at, or entertaining to interact with, but I have a really hard time accepting something that consists of cardboard hanging from a string, or something that is so ugly it makes me feel kinda queasy. Part of the problem is nobody wants to repeat what has already happened in the past, so boundaries are constantly being challenged. Boundaries of medium, subject matter, morals, etc. Doesn't it get exhausting to constantly challenge the status-quo?! It also places the artists' own personal, subjective vision or motivation, which much of the time is incomprehensible or hidden to the spectator, above everything else, especially beauty. The concept of beauty has been almost eradicated in contemporary art. I believe these tendencies are somewhere along the lines of Post-Modernism. And it is all very confusing, almost frustratingly so.



{Image from Palais de Tokyo website}

Perhaps with time, and more education, I'll be able to accept this kind of art without getting upset. haha, it's kinda ridiculous that I let it upset me! And in case you're wondering where I was, it was the Palais de Tokyo, a giant exposition space that constantly has new expos. It was open until midnight that Wednesday, so it was almost deserted when we arrived, which only added to my creeped-out feeling! And of course, I didn't hate all of the art there, some of it was interesting, as you'll see in these photos.

{HANSON! Sorry for the blur}
{Very large woman}
{Me and my friend, being eaten by a shark}
{Art that we could walk on! Kinda like a colorful skateboarding ramp}


{We couldn't resist the opportunity for a jumping picture}
{This room had a creepy, green, absinthe-like glow, and was set up like an old saloon. On one wall there was a video playing of a man, wearing a scary monster mask, playing a death-metal song frantically on an accordion. Also, there were photos of women whose eyes had been scribbled over, or who appeared deformed in some way. All kinds of creepy.}
{Video installation + darkness + red light + blur = creepy}
{Bunch of glow-in-the-dark art}


{room lit by a disco ball}
{Fountain/Statue thing}
Aren't you glad you spent 1 minute of your life looking at these pictures of weird art?