the emperor’s art -- a critical review

The irreverent child who stood up in back to proclaim that the emperor was naked wasn’t exactly embraced thereafter by the invisible suit maker’s guild. He wasn’t liked any better by all the people up front who thought the emperor had been dressed just fine. Same as anyone who jostles the status quo, he was probably pretty much ignored at the time, folks looking down checking email.

Maybe he was just feeling contrary that day, but let’s say there’s a chance he just got tired of the emperor’s bullshit. It’s only reasonable to ask what sort of mutant is immune to what ‘everybody else thinks,’ but it turns out lots of people in the back couldn’t even see the emperor, felt left out and didn’t care. They were more interested in what was going to keep them warm in winter, and actual cloth was hard to come by.

As time passes seems the kid was right all along, although he may not get credit for a long, long time. The fable glossed over this part considerably. Finally people begin to notice on their own that much of the art presented in public galleries would be sure-nuff invisible, as in not there, without state support in some form, and that art intended for sale tends toward user-friendly, more substantial and enduring -- a better fit.

The kid elaborates. He says -- concubines sometimes exhibit a haughty attitude toward those who work the streets, and artists who rely on state support in its many forms have been known to deride artwork intended to be sold and owned, and artists who seek a living directly from the public. The mass delusion starts there.

Seeing a naked emperor is not that grand, just as seeing through the game doesn’t count on the scoreboard. It isn’t going to be enough to suggest that ‘modern masters’ are so repetitive, so easily faked, and their work so totally unnumbered and unaccounted for that having one at home can be both an object of pride and a source of nagging insecurity, too much drama for something sorta ugly, say a soup can. Before the next big thing comes along, consider what even artists close to home are saying just by making personal art, the genuine article, even as the emperor passes by.