Art is business. Art is my chosen field of occupation. Of course I'm going to try to make money. The people that turn it into a big deal and an issue of commodity are the art critics and the art market. Rich dudes with money drive up prices in an auction, which is usually a secondary sale so it's not like the artist is seeing that money, and the only reason they are bidding on it is because they read an article in artforum that was praising the piece for being so avante garde and blah blah blah... Do you think any of them would have tried to buy it if i hadn't been explained to them or if someone hadn't given it value? Probably not. Artists used to poke fun at this but i think a lot of them have started to realize that poking fun at them doesn't change anything, they gobble up that shit even more. I mean, Banky's print Morons, which sold at a Sotheby's auction, is proof of that. Written is "I can't believe you morons actually buy this shit"


So i think artists are catching on that it is futile to create art that attacks critics and commodity. That's what they want. They need that argument to be 2 sided in order for them to survive. But the artist doesn't really need the critic as much as they need us. We can manage to find ways to sell work for reasonable prices because the average person is more intelligent than you might think. They don't have to have someone tell them its significant for them to buy it. They'll buy it if they can find some significance to themselves. So rather than appealing to the critic, artists have begun to appeal to the public. Humor is extremely appealing and easily achieved by taking something familiar (relatable) and mashing it with an unexpected twist. It's simple, yet clever. And just because an idea is simple and easy to understand doesn't mean its viewed briefly and dismissed quickly. The more clever the twist or humorous the more people want to pass on the idea to others. Just look at facebook and the internet memes that everyone posts and re-posts. People like to laugh and share that laughter.

So the death of art criticism is perhaps a significant topic of discussion...but not for artists. That's for the critics to worry about. And that's what they love to do, talk and assert their opinions. But i'm just gonna go continue making art for the people about the people.