Art-de-art-art

Yesterday I braved the tornado of dead leaves blowing everywhere and went to a new museum, which has all sorts of arty things. My favourite part was seeing all the old photographs of Berlin, from the 1870s to now. There was also some art painted in Berlin while the Wall was up. The art from West Berlin was colourful and cheery, while the art from East Berlin was dark, grumpy and quite violent actually. Which lead me to conclude that capitalists have way more fun than communists.

I get sick of the whole What-is-art debate, but let me just say that if it has to be explained, that’s a bad thing. It’s like having to explain a joke. The joke may have originally been funny, but when it’s explained it loses a lot of substance. That’s how I feel about modern art, too – I don’t want some placard telling me how I’m supposed to feel when I see a giant telephone or six cans of beer. I either feel something or I don’t.

And it’s amazing some of the crap that makes it on display. A few months ago in Vienna I saw a giant canvas painted black which was meant to be, wow, really original. Another painter had thrown some paint over some bad drawings and was hailed as one of the greatest artists of his generation. Now, my artistic skills are about as developed as a two-year-old before his morning coffee…meaning they’re not so hot. But I know I could have done better!

Cost of museum admission: €5
Suggested contribution to PayPal for my artistic development: €100
Feeling of satisfaction at seeing my skills flourish: Priceless