Reminds me of a story about artist Frank Stella after an art critic saw all sorts of nuances in his famed pin stripe painting.
He rebuked the critic .......said that a picture was “a flat surface with paint on it – nothing more”.
Many of his works are created by simply using the path of the brush stroke, very often using common house paint.
some artists did take that view- Bob Dylan toyed with reporters who tried to ‘find hidden meanings’ in his songs- (as did many artists- ) essentially saying ‘the message is that there isn’t a message’- (Apparently what that means is that the songs, without meaning or message, are directed at the silly masses that think there must be a reason for everything or message i n everything)-
but many artists do actually convey deep meanings in their works- like in the example i gave about the sparsely occupied rooms with severe angles- created i nsuch a way as to instill an eerie sense of mystery, uneasiness, and even a foreboding- knowing the photographer’s background helps the viewer to see with more understanding what the photographer sees and tries to capture-
His photos certainly aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to those who are sensitive to hardships and expression, the photos, done the way they are, help to express his inner voice in a way that the viewer can either identify with or sympathize with- He does so in a skill-full manner which not many others have achieved- many try- but rely on cheap cliche visual aids to do so, such as tilted frame to instill a sense of unbalance, or grease on the lens to cloud the photo to try to give a sense of a dream-scape scene-
Art moves people- Not everyone all the time- but that is where subjectivity comes in- Much Classical art is based more on objective ‘art rules’ that often come off looking technical and stilted- It relies on formulaic poses that supposedly portray beauty and grace and elegant lines, and on certain religious or mythological themes over and over- and it relies on classical color theories that are supposed to be viewed as very desirable or beautiful, and they rarely venture outside their formulas-
I’m not knocking classical art- i like a lot of different kinds of art and appreciate the talent it takes- even if it is essentially formulaic, or hooked to a certain movement- I like the innovators as well as the classically trained- Much art is just a visual delight- some of it is truly really bad- and offensive- but i just don’t think it fair to label all modern art as worthless trash because it doesn’t follow the formulaic ‘rules’ of classical art- (I know you didnt’ say that- more just a personal statement on my part)