Growing up an extremely visual learner, an insurmountable love for the arts and a knack for seeing everything on a visual platform, there has always been one thing that was constantly quipped at me whenever I took a dip into fine arts conversation: "You can't judge art" or "I mean, how do you even begin to judge it?" This has all been based on my personal experiences from children to adults. However, take from this snip of writing that quotes Noel Cowards, The Power of the Actor, I can understand from this viewpoint that one believes everyone has their own opinions of how art should be represented. That is true to an extent until one finds boundaries in the real world that we live in and find it more suitable to create "Art That Matters."
Mark Rothko - Yellow and Blue (1954)
In full definition from Cambridge English Dictionary, "art" is the making or doing of something to bring pleasure and what is beautiful or interesting. Usually, the mistake made that I find when one is judging art is the level of neatness or steady-handed accuracy of proportion and being able to define what "still life" the art is portraying. From conclusion of my obsessive art museum findings and fine arts education, sometimes the art is seen as simple as a painting of two colors next to each other on a canvas like Mark Rothko's work, or Jackson Pollock, who used drip painting to influence the beginning of action painting. One who is assumably uneducated about fine arts would say, "I could do the same thing and sell it for a fortune too" or "a four year old could do this," however they fail to understand the essence of creation when it comes to fine art.
Jackson Pollock - Convergence (1952)
The truth is that anyone can make art. It's there to utilize and have fun with but for some people, it is more serious than creating something visually appealing to the standard mass population. It is a catalyst for movements, changing the world, advancing in discoveries to fulfill needs for generations onward. As a pre-college student moving onto art college, I uncomfortably observe students being ashamed by people around them for their choice to pursue an art degree along with their choice of a future career in art. It is claimed to be unrealistic and I feel like those people have a view of the starving artist in their minds. And to those shaming who are reading this article, I hope you realize every product you use or see daily are produced by these art students. Please don't ever go see a movie, wear clothes or go anywhere near architectures if you plan to stay in that state of mind.
You can't judge art if you're uneducated about it. For example, Advanced Placement Studio Art has criteria to be met and that is how high school students art is judged. As for museum curators, depending on the person, sometimes they looks for aesthetic pleasure or others will look for artist statements and how their work plays up with it or how unique the work is according to Art 21.
Anyone can whip out a sheet of lined paper and draw some daisies with Crayola crayons, but with "Art That Matters," artists will create the innovative clothing that we will wear, the new designs for environmentally friendly products, ideas to make a sustainable living, etc. It's all about how your art changes the status quo, challenges ideas, makes a difference, improves lives and it all narrows down to how the artist defends their work. Art can be anything for one person but revolutionary for another. That is how you judge art.
Although this was roughly an opinion based article, I am a very open minded person who loves being educated and would love to gain your feedback/constructive criticism so feel free to educate me!
