Has art jumped the shark after WWI?

[Whateverist]

Yes, academically critically acclaimed "high" art has to jumped the shark. A medicine cabinet with all of the artist's hygiene detritus mounted on a gallery wall is not art. Much of this crap is no more than a snigger at those defining art as whatever an artist says art is----so, how about this? I say it's art!

I find that whenever the message an artist wants to communicate is dominant to the work itself, it is a little less interesting to me. It is edging toward visual propaganda.

This is related to what I think of as the cult of originality. That is that whatever is most original is good. You can tell this kind of art simply by asking, "could anyone expand upon this?," "could it be improved, or is once enough?" If the answers are no and yes, then it's not art it's just different. Would the next artist's trash can full of whatever be better?

This is related to shock art. The idea being that if it offends enough people, it must be good. Poop paintings and "Piss Christ" featuring a crucifix in the artist's urine typify this form of "art."

Yep.

And then there's art that requires an essay from the artist in order for the audience to understand it. Why not just submit the essay and have done with?

My sentiments exactly.

With visual art, what the artist means may be no more than LOOK, and you will see it the way I see it.

Love your paintings. This is the sort I appreciate most though I also enjoy work that amounts to introspective exploration, work where the artist works very intuitively and responds to nuances as they emerge. I admit I enjoy the shark that J. Pollack jumped.