aesthetics

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and I really could care less.  I wonder how many angsty little blogs started off with that very statement today.  I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not as individualistic as I think.  Hell, none of us are when you really think about it.  It's just trendy to be be different.  Tattoos aren't taboo anymore.  (I'm really glad I never did that, although I've seen some pretty cool ones in my day.)  They're mainstream.  Everyone is an "artist."  Everything taboo has become mainstream, and normal has become strange. 

And that leads me to my next question:  What constitutes an artist?  Damn near everyone claims to be one these days.  I'm actually sort of sick of it to the point that it's refreshing to hear accountants and insurance salesmen still exist out there.  Hey y'all, let's be friends.  At least I won't have to pretend to like whatever craft of the moment you're making.

Of course I say this as a costume designer (I'm so damn artistic). I do believe there is a huge difference between art and craft though.  Philosophers have been attempting to define art for centuries now, so I know I'm not going to be able to sum it up in one little blog post.  I just think the idea of being an artist has been over-hyped in the last few years, so everyone fancies every little collage and piece of homemade jewelry they make as "art."  I call it craft.  And there's no shame in it.  I do stuff like that all the time, but I'm not calling up the local gallery asking them to showcase it. 

I'm a firm believer that this idea stems from my generation.  We're all nearing our thirties, and whether I like it or not, that means we're adults.  I notice commercials targeting our generation.  It's weird.  I don't like hearing songs that I really like being played under car or candy or cleaning product (agh!) commercials.  It makes me feel super lame.  Maybe that's my problem, but I think a lot of people like me might agree.  I'm veering from my point a bit.  Ok, my generation was told they were good at everything they did.  (um, we weren't.)  Our parents told us we could do whatever we wanted to do if we set our mind to it.  How fucking cruel?!  Hey, ok, if I think really really hard, I'm going to be an astronaut.  Yessss, awesome.  It's utter delusion we all face daily.  We are the delusional generation. We also refuse to accept the fact that we're adults, but I hear people talking about that all the time these days and I'm sort of sick of it.  Yeah, I had a problem accepting adult responsibility but then 27 happened, and I got over it.  Adults are cool.  And I'm one.  It doesn't change the fact that we are still delusional though. 

I want to think about this a little more and revisit it.  I want to find someone making the most outlandishly terrible piece of "art" and pick their brain.  I'll bet their parents told them they were great artists, and they were really just awful or worse, mediocre.  The world lost one more great accountant.

Mediocrity.  That's a great word for so much "art" I see and hear about.  I think it's a direct result of someone's delusion that they are actually good.  I know this sounds so assholish.  Believe me, I love making things.  And I'm not knocking artists.  Most of my friends are.  I just wish it wasn't thrown around so much.  I think it loses a lot of meaning now that it is.