As Marx's piece mentions, I think the decline stems from a resistance to engage in thoughtful criticism, because a. critiques of a piece of art (esp. music, movies) are usually dismissed as elitist pretension, b. the criticism is not fully developed nor does it have the historical knowledge to call out why it's bad, c. people consume media as if they are industry professionals. It's as though the PR strategy is an art form in and of itself. Experiencing a piece of culture today often means identifying if you are a stan or a hater and then behaving accordingly. The conversation becomes derivative. I think considering things thoughfully--not necessarily objectively--but more importantly by allowing your reaction to be complex will lead to a more enriching culture. Reading criticism and thinking about the layers of meaning in a piece of art is so much more interesting than logging on and gassing up the celebrity du jour.
that piece of writing stuck with me, thanks for sharing!
1d ago
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There's a thing that I notice at art museums sometimes. Someone wearing a slightly annoyed expression will be speeding through the exhibit like they are going down a long to do list. Or I'll be playing a board game with a group and there will be some guy with a strained face looking like they'd rather be anywhere else. Maybe another time we're leaving a movie and they start to complain about how it 'wasn't realistic', you get the picture.
I swear to God it makes me want to pulpify their face.
I'm not saying that you need to like every piece of art or that you should feel bad for not liking a movie, but, goddamn, at least give it a fucking second. Closing yourself off to The New, being automatically opposed to earnestness when it appears, is one of the most damaging defense mechanisms I can think of. It is, in turn, also one of the best ways to maximize your misery.
The defense mechanism that is cynicism, turns its users into parasites of the Social; they are sold the idea (a lie) that damaging and denigrating <<something>> allows one to become independent of its power structure. On the contrary, just as a leech is the most dependent on its host, cynics are those that are most dependent on the power structures in our culture.
I really want to emphasize the difference between criticism and cynicism, because I am in no way saying that we should not criticize bad or damaging art, but to successfully criticize something means to first buy in, to really allow yourself to be taken by a piece, to examine it as it comes. Buying in as a term (even one so bathed in capitalist sebum) is the right one in this case because to buy in requires one to make a sacrifice. You cannot experience art without opening yourself to the possibility that it will do damage to you. To fully allow yourself to be moved by a piece of art is to allow yourself to be cut.
But inside that cut is what it means to be human.
I think the single best way to combat cynicism is an unceasing curiosity of the world and the people in it. The normal and common of this world is absolutely fantasmatic if you take a moment to examine it; we see the world through have fluid filled orbs made of meat for fucks sake. The fact that there is anything at all, the fact that you and I exist for even a second is an absolutely unbelievable mind fuck, and to be unimpressed by any and everything doesn’t make you special or better than anyone, it just leaves you on a road to the pit of despair and leaves me really bummed out for the rest of the night.
Sep 20, 2024
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i feel like internet culture has conditioned me to feel like I always have to have an opinion on something. And as a result I’m always judging an artist work as good or bad based on my own individual taste. But it’s absolutely bonkers to think that I’m the target audience for everything an artist that I like makes. Sometime, the song or the painting or the movie ect. Is not for me, and that’s fine. It doesn’t mean what they are producing is bad, it simply means it’s not resonating with me. And thinking this way allows me to respect an artists decision to experiment with their art form a bit more. Because I can only imagine how constricting it must be to feel pressure to create just for people approval and consumption. Maybe sometime the artists just wants to put out a funny little song that makes them happy. And sure, I may not get it and it may not be something I want to listen to, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that it’s not for me, and that’s okay.
May 14, 2024
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I recently reread this story and I don't relate to it in the same way I did when I originally read it. I think Holden complains a lot. I was beginning to have a lot of criticisms for it when I remembered that art is not made for consumption, just because I am noticing something that I dislike in the story, doesn't mean that it has less value. The value of art depends on who is consuming it, and originally, art is only for the creator as an outlet, if you happen to resonate with a piece of art, that is amazing, but that is not what art is for. This idea is why I dislike platforms like letterboxd and goodreads (although I still use them) because they break art down to a numbered scale that strips it of it's purpose. I think opinions are valuable and I love hearing other perspectives, but to state things like "this movie/book is bad" like it is a fact, is downright contradictory to why art exists.
yikes this turned into a rant :///
Jan 22, 2025
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a study issued last month found that dancing is the most effective way of treating and mitigating depression. Walking, therapy, and yoga also outpaced SSRIs. and if you're saying 'oh this was probably funded by Big Dance', there's no evidence of that and if you're saying 'that's just what a Big Dance shill would say', well honey you're right
Mar 4, 2024
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Reminder that most of what we do is a performance
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