Contemporary art is a depressing, nihilistic freak show. And why shouldn’t it be?
In 1859, Charles Darwin published “On The Origin Of Species” and the world changed overnight. As if waking up from a dream, the culture opened its eyes to a new world devoid of meaning, objective morality, and purpose. We were no longer tied to a grand narrative that began with “In the beginning, God created.” The future seemed bright. Man could now write his own meaning, defining himself and his world in whichever way he saw fit. Freed from the shackles of the clergy, we were ready to evolve.
As we now know, it didn’t turn out well. Darwin’s science inspired the self-directed evolution of Eugenics which ended with a Nazi Holocaust and a burned-out husk where Europe used to be. Atheistic government gave rise to Communism which ended with a crumbling Berlin wall, only after claiming 100 million lives.
The insanity of following atheism to its logical conclusions caused these movements to collapse under the weight of their own evil, but there is one place where the atheistic nihilism that followed in Darwin’s wake is still alive and thriving: the art world. The results are hilarious and sad.
First came Darwin, then came the Impressionists
Darwin’s theory didn’t just change science and politics, it changed art profoundly. The decade following the release of “Origin” gave rise to impressionism. The artistic impressionists rebelled against all classical standards of beauty and ushered in an era of aesthetic relativism. Art stopped being about reflecting truth and beauty and devolved into the depressing, scat and period-blood obsessed horror show we see today. And why not? If life has no purpose, why should our art be any different?
We’ve come a long way since Handel’s Messiah, the Sistine Chapel, and Michelangelo’s David. Today we are treated to orchestral concerts without melody, harmony or timing. Blank canvases or monochromatic paintings featuring a single white line are imbued with “meaning” by art collectors and galleries. They use pretentious language to make the untrained public think there something more going on besides talentless hacks throwing garbage on a gallery wall. Sometimes, they mix it up and throw garbage on the gallery floor. No, really. In Holland, an art exhibit by Lein Stockx was accidentally cleared out and hauled to a landfill by janitors who mistook it for litter. Walk into any prestigious modern art museum and you are likely to find gold plated feces, empty cardboard boxes stapled to the wall, and bizarre performance art by convulsing, spastic dancers. Many of these works sell for millions of dollars.
A well-funded fantasy world
How has this nonsensical art movement survived so long without producing anything of transcendent beauty or worth? It’s because there has been an alternate reality constructed around modern art- an entire infrastructure of collectors and galleries willing to maintain the illusion. And there are plenty pretentious elites with deep pockets looking for a status symbol to hang in their mansion, or at least a means of laundering money or escaping taxes. There must be something perversely gratifying about declaring a pile of garbage to be valuable just because you declare it so. In this world of elite pseudo-intellectualism and money, they have the luxury of pretending to be their own gods. They make and define their own reality and their own standards for beauty.
Perhaps it’s no surprise then that these are the same people who embrace and propagate artificial social constructs like race while deconstructing and redefining biological realities like gender. Their religion is that they get to define their own reality. They can be like the Most-High. Lucifer would be proud.
And here we are…
It all came full circle recently at the Art Basel gallery in Miami. Here an artist named Maurizio Cattelan, whose previous masterpiece was an 18K Gold working toilet he called “America,” unveiled his latest creation.
It’s a banana duct-taped to a wall. It sold for $120,000.
Not to be outdone, a performance artist named David Datuna walked into the gallery, ripped the banana off the wall and ate it. His work was entitled “Hungry Artist.”
Hilariously, the gallery owner accepted this performance art as legitimate and simply elected to replace the banana.
But the spectacle was not over. Another artist named Rod Webber came in and wrote “Epstein didn’t kill himself” in lipstick on the blank wall where the banana had been. His art was not accepted as legitimate. The piece was covered with a drape. Webber was escorted off the premises by armed security. The Art Basel is now pressing charges against him.
Who decides what is art in a world where there are literally no standards? Just as is the case in godless tyrannies or murderous Eugenics movements, it’s the people with power who get to decide. It’s the gallery owner, the armed security, the governmental ruler or mother walking home with an RU 486 pill to end the life of her unborn child. In a godless universe, morality is determined by power. That’s why progressives are obsessed with it. And they will not stop pursuing it until they manage to bring their art-world insanity into the real world.
If Darwin could see the folly that logically followed from his theory in the 20th century, I think he may have run back into his local Anglican church in tearful repentance. I have to admit it though- there’s something kind of poetic about a highly evolved chimpanzee taping a banana to a wall.
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