Sometimes I feel like maybe I go easy on art (film, music, etc) and I like a lot of stuff that’s maybe not as respected
Anyone relate?
Most recent example is I’ve been really vibin with the new Lil Tecca album and I was surprised to learn this thing isn’t liked.
A friend of mine brought up this question in a Discord server. It prompted some initial thoughts which I added to the discussion, but it brought me to farther contemplate the question. The ramblings in this essay are a result of those thoughts.
I often find myself enjoying art that technically isn’t masterful, maybe it could even be classed as objectively bad. That fact often battles with my desire for harsh critique, it makes me feel like I don’t respect the arts properly. How do I enjoy art if critics I respect say it’s bad while giving sound reasoning for it being a poor quality work? If I’m being objective I often find plenty to critique with these pieces myself, but I still enjoy them. Does that make my tastes bad? Perhaps. Why do I care so much though? What’s the worst that could happen? I get judged for not understanding the arts, for having bad taste? So what! Don’t we despise the critics anyway? Society gets a vast array of issues wrong that should be objective with basic reasoning yet we assume it to be correct when entertaining matters of taste.
That is not to say critique should be cast away. Quality critique accepted by an artist properly empowers one to more effectively express themselves. But critique can also make us question our own tastes rather than just letting them develop through natural experience.
I’ve been trying hard to shift my perspective because of this side effect critique has upon individuals and society as a whole. It’s left me with a goal to bring my mentality to:
If I like art, I should like it.
If you like art, like it.
Yes, we should respect the technical aspects of “good” art made through a clear understanding of technique and the history of the medium(s) being explored. That should not however stop us from enjoying abstract art that had no thought go into it (at first glance at least) or using our time on movies with a poor understanding of filmmaking. Those works are also art and we can still take away from them as humans even if just our most primal response of “I enjoy that” or the use of critical thinking to understand why we don’t like an idea that an artist presented to us.
Treasure the masterful works of a Beethoven but don’t let that stop you from saving room for ice cream with Lil Tecca. Good taste doesn’t come from enjoying a book you’re reading to then abandon it because a critic you respect didn’t like it. Good taste that is true to yourself comes from a meaningful exploration of the arts. There’s a reason your tastes have changed from your childhood to your teenage years through to being an adult. What you enjoy will continue to change by means of experiencing life. Living is the most genuine way to refine our tastes. To suffer our most violent pain and to take in a breath of fresh air during our most serene moment. Living leads us to understand in greater depths ourselves, thereby the human experience and in turn humanity’s creations.
Critique culture also makes us fearful (at least it does for me) of making art, especially if one considers themselves a “hobbyist”. The trap we fall into is the assumption that if art isn’t “good” through the lens of those analyzing, it holds no value. Whether that audience be a friend, yourself, or thousands viewing it through a series of tubes that audience can be crippling.
I’ve been slowly realizing how flawed that perspective of fear is since I started my journey in photography. Some of that intimidation comes from the commodification and as a result the commercialization of art. Money has warped and mangled our brains so morbidly that everything including art has a value that finds its definition in what someone is willing to pay for it to be their property. Social media has twisted the wiring within our brains into an even more disfigured abomination. Money can at least buy us things, a like on Instagram gives us a cheap dopamine hit. This problem is made even worse with money now being tied to social media, we can now monetize views and likes directly and indirectly. Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot of positives to artists being able to make a living just by sharing their work, but we are often unable to separate success from the worthiness and actual value of art. Artists who are producing valuable art can feel their work is valueless when in actuality that feeling comes from not obtaining engagement through a biased algorithm.
None of this should be surprising, we know what happens when we tie money and fame to art, the horrors are right before our eyes. Art becomes a means to money rather than a way to engage with our soul or maybe just simply be an end itself. Even if the artist(s) are still passionate about what they’re creating the work will always be tainted by the underlying plague of capitalism. The value of art is no longer its commentary, the raw emotion it pulls from our inner being, the change it affects on society, its challenge to our worldview, expansion of our narrow mind, or ability to understand our thoughts. No, it’s the amount of money the movie made at the box office, the number of awards an artist’s discography has for sales numbers, the YouTube placard hanging in the background of your favorite content creator, or amount of likes art gets on the internet. Money and notoriety shouldn’t even be a factor when judging art’s value, but it has become the greatest factor. How could it not? Society revolves around money. I’m not even trying to make artists feel guilty. Everyone has to make a living and just staying alive is immorally expensive right now. Why do we act so shocked then when artists completely sell out for money? When they reduce themselves to doing commercials for the corporations they know are actively murdering us? Many of them started like every American not born with a silver spoon in their mouth, just trying to survive. As it turns out, often the only practical way to survive is to capitulate one’s morality, what else can someone do? The problem is that this participation normalizes and validates our current social structure and the money one is given farther numbs one’s moral compass. What we viewed as so destructive is now normal, it’s the way things are and they aren’t going to change so might as well make some money while I have the chance.
This leads us to a farther haunting conclusion. If art, and really anything we produce is defined through its monetary success and popularity, how do we as a society define you? Is your worth really that of your income? Is it how productive you are at your job? Of course we know that’s ridiculous, but that’s the way society functions. That’s how capitalism defines your value. Why do we conform to this? We allow billionaires to disparage us with their actions and words. They don’t even take the conservative approach of telling us the hours of work at a job we hate isn’t “working hard enough.” Work doesn’t even define you to the billionaire, rather it’s the amount of money that work makes. Because enough of us fall for their lies they get away with claiming they don’t oppress us with their wealth hoarding and make laws that actively murder the lower class through lobbyists. They should all be in jail just from the damage they’ve done by claiming you’re worthless. That you’re lazy scum they have the right to wipe off the bottom of their corporate shoes after you’ve served your purpose to them.
You have value and that value is not defined by the money you make, your social media likes, or even your productivity. If you are not in the process of murdering, oppressing, and exploiting millions of Americans and billions more around the world then you already have more value than any billionaire. The fact you’re not purposely harming others is plenty to validate your existence. Don’t let anyone disparage you from your attempts to improve your life and the lives of others. You’re capable of expressing your value to greater extents than the narrow box society places you in.
I would like to finalize this essay by affirming one medium of expressing your value, the one this essay is really about. Your art has value because it meant something for you to create it, that’s all the value and validation it needs as an excuse to exist. If someone else likes it, that’s a cherry on top. Make art and share it, it doesn’t matter if people don’t like it. It’s good because you had an experience making it as a human with intrinsic value. And who knows, the critique and praise resulting from your own effort could be far more revolutionary to your life and our world than you ever thought possible. You are valuable, therefore what you create must contain some of that value intrinsic to you. Making art is to defy the very value system they inflict upon you, to clearly display their lies for everyone to see, to acknowledge for yourself that you’re not worthless!
The Lambent 