The Thing About Modern Art
By: Amelie Pak
Tags: Modern Art, Meaning, Art

Modern Art (20th century art) is under-appreciated. And it is one of the roots to the controversial question: What counts as art? The true answer is undefined and always will be. Over time absolutely anything could develop meaning behind it, but for our purpose, that deeper meaning has to be the cause of the creation or occur during the process of its creation. It’s come down to a matter of trust.

A museum presents you a white room with a few cardboard boxes in the center; this is where the mind instantaneously turns to think that some jerk needed a little extra cash. But it is there because there was a reason and in some ways it was made to look a certain way.

“I could do that,” is a phrase said a countless amount of times under the roofs of Modern Art exhibitions. Sure, maybe this person can, in fact, paint a 10 by 10 canvas with primary red, but did he? He hasn’t. Therefore, there is no tangible proof that he actually can. It’s not that they have the ability to do something, but really if they actually did.

Museum goers are confident that they can replicate an artist’s work or think that they deserve the same attention since they’re much capable of doing the same. These people didn’t think to paint a 10 by 10 canvas primary red without a sign of stroke, then why expect the credit? The surface is what they look at, only some actually take a seat to ponder: “What was the artist thinking when painting this?” “Why did they paint this — because it was just cool? or because it meant something to them?” Yes, doing this is hard, and it can often be redundant. But we have to be aware before we are offended.

There is an offered answer to the notorious question, “What is Art?” And it’s been around for just over a century. “Art is what you put in a gallery or museum.” I don’t agree.

In English class, our teacher had us look at IKB 191, International Klein Blue. Look it up. It’s literally just blue. Our assignment was to write half a page simply describing it. Now the reaction of my classmates was the most amusing. There was so much dynamism that it was almost chaos. Rage and self pity was flooding out of room 27, and I thought it was hilarious. That serene, deep blue caused that. That average rectangle brushed with one color caused all of that. The painting instilled so much emotion out of my classmates, and they didn’t know it. I think that is the beauty of Modern Art.

Monochrome paintings from the 1960s, to me, describes rebellion from tradition. But it can really mean anything. I’ll link an article below to what a professional wrote. It was really here where I discovered, from my classmates breaking down because a canvas was a shade of blue, was that art is what is inculcated.

“What counts as art?” is an open ended question, and I think always will be. But for now, let’s say art means the connection between the viewer and the work. Whether it is melancholy, joy, nostalgia, anger, or confusion — that is what the art is.

Read more about monochrome paintings: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-monochrome-painting-good

Read what I came up with when we were forced to write about a blue canvas:

Blue. That’s it, a deep primary blue. Standard and ordinary yet somehow humiliating, that is this color. It captures the endless boundaries with such simplicity, a representation of how monochromism can be so creative and odd. At the same time, the color infuses fury from being kept away from meaning, calmness from reflecting upon the ocean’s deep, cool tone, and nostalgia, as it is the color that was once secretly and carefully finger-painted onto the walls. Ultramarine blue, probably with a hint of red, texture so smooth, what else is there to see? Well, there is the color of the lid on your aunt’s tupperware, the ink from your ball point pen, the sapphire embedded on your great-grandmother’s necklace, the color of your veins seen from your wrist, and the crayon you broke from pressing too hard on the paper. It laces together the depths of the oceans, the gems beneath ground, the miserable soul, and the tranquil heart. The color is like freedom in a cage and captivity released.