Art is supposed to challenge.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am an artist. I disagree.
If a creation of an artist doesn’t challenge does that mean it isn’t art? There is a lot of highly acclaimed art hanging in the halls of respected museums that doesn’t challenge but instead affirms, uplifts, and even soothes the senses.
If you find it soothing it’s only because you’ve become accustomed to it. Mozart and Beethoven were challenging and heard the right way they still are.
The idea that art is “a challenge” is a new concept in the history of art. Now it’s practically the only accepted way to present art! And yet the theater world that I am a part of only presents a point of view that matches the status quo.