7 Comments
⭠ Return to thread

👏👏👏 Bravo Rohan Ghostwind! This is an outstanding article that must be read by every American! Everything has gotten uglier and this an undeniable fact! Architecture and art have both severely deteriorated in quality. When it comes to how architecture has changed the factors you listed are all certainly accurate, but I would also add one more: the overuse of minimalism. Everything must look as dull, faded and simple as possible. As to the others factors you listed, I feel they are all spot on. Multiculturalism is a great thing to be sure. But region-specific craftsmen need to make a comeback, and we need to balance being one people with a common culture while also making room for people from different countries and regions to celebrate their roots. Multiculturalism doesn’t mean we all become one gelatinous mass where everyone is the same. My hope is that in 2030, 2040 and 2050 we will see British, French, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, etc. style buildings all over this country. Corporations need to incentivize beauty in their buildings. After all, wouldn’t such beautiful ascetics or vibrant colors be more likely to draw in the costumer? Wouldn’t that be more inviting for them? We also need to pass laws to limit how much a company put up its advertisements and where they can. I don’t need to see my local sports stadium covered in advertising trying to get me to drink a Coke, buy Nike shoes or eat a Snicker’s Bar. We get it, you want us to buy your products! We don’t need to see 1,000 signs saying more or less the same thing! If people like your product they’ll buy it! Wealthy people need to have more down time. In general, we work too much in our society. I think we need to shift cultural norms. It would be good for all of us to have a more balanced life and less strenuous work schedule. We need to incorporate the siesta from Latin American culture into Western culture. Overall, it would benefit us as people, we would be happier and healthier and make workers more productive. But it would also help beautify our society as rich people would have more time to seek out, build and fund the construction of beautiful things and put money into the arts. I think I know when art lost its way. It all started with the birth of the Impressionist movement! The first couple generations of the movement were amazing and gave us the likes of Monet, Manet, Gauguin, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Klimt. The first two generations of Impressionism still retained some artistic standards and to an extent, discipline. But over time the movement went too far. The loosening of artistic standards sadly gave way to the extreme of them being abolished altogether. Now literally anything is considered art whether it be a big bag of feces, a big carving of someone’s rear end, a cinder block, someone’s glasses dropped on the floor, or a banana taped to a canvas is considered to be art. If everything is art than nothing is art. Bring back artistic standards! Modern art is garbage, and it should all be put in a dumpster and never looked at by anyone again! Body Positivity was a good idea on paper but like Impressionism, went too far. At first it was all about expanding what could be considered beautiful but now it has come to the point where everything is considered to be beautiful. No! Obesity is unhealthy and ugly period. End of story. Accepting different body shapes, people with disabilities, people with skin conditions, and the LGBT community? Sure. Accepting obesity, old people covered in wrinkles, women covered in body hair, and straight men wearing dresses, crop tops and makeup? No way Jose! Art and fashion can have a wide berth to an extent, but we must retain the old standards of beauty our society has always had. I encourage everyone here to check out and support The Art Renewal Center which is working hard to bring back discipline and standards to what constitutes art. Again, thank you Rohan for this amazing and timely article every art teacher, professor and student needs to read! It’s time for post modernism, minimalism and Impressionism to die!

Expand full comment

Great points Noah! I especially agree about the impact of rampant subjectivism on art, where anything is art if you deem it such. I've personally witnessed how this has continually devolved from its earlier form in Duchamp's work to now, when some artists literally have passed shit off as art!

Expand full comment

You’re very welcome Noah, thank you for reading

Expand full comment
Error