I do agree with his comment about Jackson Pollack. Pollack knew what he was doing, but other wannabes saw his painting and thought that all they need to do is drip paint on the canvas.
The idea is – if you don’t understand what the supposed connoisseur is telling you, it’s your fault, not his!! I just love the ‘obsequious detail’ and the ‘idee fixe’ … does it for me. A rubbish bin by any other name? Perfect.
Critic is bored with Abstract Expressionism, and frankly so am I, and is either tuning in to Dada or Pop Art, both of which I enjoy. Dada asked us question what is art? (See Marcel Duchamp who hung a snow shovel in a gallery showing, or hung a urinal. ‘Found art’.) The more recent Pop Art (popular art) suggested there is art all around us, we can find it in comic strips or product packaging. (See Roy Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes.)
Have you noticed that small coffee roasters have started coining product descriptions similar to the ridiculous terms used by vintners? A new winery here chose a name that sums up the industry – Welcome POMPOUS ASS WINERY !!!
Obsequious detail? First time I ever heard the terms combined in a description of an art form or anything else, for that matter. What does it even mean?
But I like the premise of the arc. Pomposity is always a good target for cynics and overbearing critics of any caliber fill the list. Politicians are a close second.
Some modern art is accessible only to the part of the brain that appreciates color blends and vague forms. WOW!!
And some items land squarely on our sense of the ridiculous. They paid how much for that??!!!
Yeah, I know. The sense of acceptability is unique to each of us, and many would not agree with my choices, but that’s what makes art and lifestyles, and thank goodness for it. Being an individual is exceptional in itself.
He’s JUST LIKE the “Wine Snobs” who babble on about nonsense like “Subtle Undertones” and “A Strong Finish”. Pour the contents of a bottle of 3-Buck Chuck into an expensive bottle, and I bet 98% of them couldn’t tell the difference!
Reminds me of the University Art professor Robert Florczak who had his graduate students critic a work of art. They thought it was a Pollock. Turned out to be his spill covered painting apron. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNI07egoefc
I think Warhol’s painting of a soup can was a solid piece of artistic irony. However, I know very little about art. I just know I would rather have the “Dogs playing Poker” on my wall than a Soup Can.
Extremely old joke. And art museums don’t put trash cans in the galleries. Nobody puts trash cans on pedestals. And where did all the trash come from? Especially since no one knew it was a trash can.
Having graduated R.I.S.D. in 1959 with a degree in Advertising Design I was in a New York museum. Down a hall I saw what seemed to be an illustration of many human bodies. Got up close I discovereda variety of brown string tied in bows glued to background. Then during Army Howitzer training I noticed trucks with blue & white stars on the doors. Had a few tubes of Designer colors blue, went to the motor pool & changed a white star to blue. Motor pool Sargent had a fit & got someone drive it the correct motor pool. Rained that night….and… “Art” is in the eye of the beholder!
Reminds me of that ‘art’ show of trash thrown around a room. The janitor cleaned it. It was a huge scandal, not that it looked like trash strewn around but that a janitor destroyed a thousands dollars worth of art. ‘Artists’ telling the world that people who don’t like or understand their creation are just ignoramus, because it is all in the meaning the artist wants to express, are part of that belly button gazing species called narcissists.
To me art is a recognizable depiction of something from the real world. I particularly like storm tossed ships at sea with varying shades and tones capturing the illusion of the light breaking through the clouds. If the artist can capture movement, light and reality without it being a photograph I am always awed. I don’t care for geometric shapes or pictures of soup cans and Picasso clearly had some vision problems or hideous nightmares he was trying to exorcise onto the canvas. At least that’s my opinion which, when it comes to art is really the only opinion that matters to me.
I just love to see a pompous arse taken down a notch. But I will agree with him on the “Pollock wannabe”. Pollock is the most easily copied artist. Which tells you a lot about Modern “art”.
It seems that it IS a piece of art in the collection (on a pedestal, doesn’t look like any trash can in the world) but people put trash in it. When the custodian dumps it, he enjoys the reaction.
I used to be an engineer. A Polish surrealist Zdzisław Beksiński’s canal fantasy has always impressed me. He said he wanted to paint photographs of peoples dreams. I can’t find a link to an image of the painting, but from a copy I have on my computer: A backlit-luminous sailboat is making its way down a valley, along a sinuous elevated canal that goes from sky blue to yellow. Down below is lush forest, and in the distance there is a hazy yellow sky. On either side of the valley are mountains soaring out of our sight. Near it, on either side, are stone spires, supporting boom cranes. Bridges pass from the spires to tunnels into the sides of the mountains…
Huge fan of Wiley here. But it’s too bad he is recycling jokes from the 1990s. This joke was almost word for word in his collection “Beastly Things” from 1999
EasternWoods over 3 years ago
Art, it’s all in the marketing
marilynnbyerly over 3 years ago
Someone watched WONDER WOMAN 1984.
Doug K over 3 years ago
Art is in the eye of the beholder. What’s one person’s art is another’s …
Superfrog over 3 years ago
Even so, I’m happy to concede that the detail is pretty obsequious.
EasternWoods over 3 years ago
I like Wiley’s art
Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member over 3 years ago
And “Made in China” was printed on the bottom.
in.amongst over 3 years ago
How nice. I’d love to janitorize NYT’s Art Section.
Concretionist over 3 years ago
I really don’t know Art. Or even art. But I’ve discovered that I also don’t always like the same things I used to… or for the same reasons.
One of the things I like is to chuckle at pompous pontificators, particularly when they get it laughably wrong.
Bilan over 3 years ago
I do agree with his comment about Jackson Pollack. Pollack knew what he was doing, but other wannabes saw his painting and thought that all they need to do is drip paint on the canvas.
LeslieBark over 3 years ago
I’ll bet that the janitor knows more about art than that pretentious would-be critic!
mikeyman over 3 years ago
He’s still full of garbage.
keenanthelibrarian over 3 years ago
The idea is – if you don’t understand what the supposed connoisseur is telling you, it’s your fault, not his!! I just love the ‘obsequious detail’ and the ‘idee fixe’ … does it for me. A rubbish bin by any other name? Perfect.
pcolli over 3 years ago
It’s not about what you paint – it’s about what you say about it.
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 3 years ago
No anti-intellectual bent in the 21st century! /s
danketaz Premium Member over 3 years ago
Some budding Duchamp should scrawl his name on it and make it art.
Sanspareil over 3 years ago
Art is a dish best served cold!
dot-the-I over 3 years ago
And may moments when we love our jobs be many.
(Thinking of a sorter of donated clothing who found $1,400 rolled up in a shoe.)
Zebrastripes over 3 years ago
LOL! Love this!
griffon8 over 3 years ago
Reminds me of this:
https://xkcd.com/451/
Ignatz Premium Member over 3 years ago
In an empty space in a museum, some guy put his glasses on the floor, and filmed the people reacting to it like it was a serious art work.
Lawrence.S over 3 years ago
Critic is bored with Abstract Expressionism, and frankly so am I, and is either tuning in to Dada or Pop Art, both of which I enjoy. Dada asked us question what is art? (See Marcel Duchamp who hung a snow shovel in a gallery showing, or hung a urinal. ‘Found art’.) The more recent Pop Art (popular art) suggested there is art all around us, we can find it in comic strips or product packaging. (See Roy Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes.)
khmo over 3 years ago
Have you noticed that small coffee roasters have started coining product descriptions similar to the ridiculous terms used by vintners? A new winery here chose a name that sums up the industry – Welcome POMPOUS ASS WINERY !!!
sandpiper over 3 years ago
Obsequious detail? First time I ever heard the terms combined in a description of an art form or anything else, for that matter. What does it even mean?
But I like the premise of the arc. Pomposity is always a good target for cynics and overbearing critics of any caliber fill the list. Politicians are a close second.
sandpiper over 3 years ago
Some modern art is accessible only to the part of the brain that appreciates color blends and vague forms. WOW!!
And some items land squarely on our sense of the ridiculous. They paid how much for that??!!!
Yeah, I know. The sense of acceptability is unique to each of us, and many would not agree with my choices, but that’s what makes art and lifestyles, and thank goodness for it. Being an individual is exceptional in itself.
morningglory73 Premium Member over 3 years ago
Tee hee, It’s a trash can you Schnook.
WGillete over 3 years ago
It’s like sticking a pin in the expert and watching him fly around the room.
Masterskrain over 3 years ago
He’s JUST LIKE the “Wine Snobs” who babble on about nonsense like “Subtle Undertones” and “A Strong Finish”. Pour the contents of a bottle of 3-Buck Chuck into an expensive bottle, and I bet 98% of them couldn’t tell the difference!
IT’S FERMENTED GRAPE JUICE!!
dalemcginnis over 3 years ago
I know art. if I don’t like it, it isn’t art.
boydjb47 over 3 years ago
Reminds me of the University Art professor Robert Florczak who had his graduate students critic a work of art. They thought it was a Pollock. Turned out to be his spill covered painting apron. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNI07egoefc
RussHeim over 3 years ago
Was that a janitor emptying a trash can, or did we just witness performance art? And how would we know?
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member over 3 years ago
I think Warhol’s painting of a soup can was a solid piece of artistic irony. However, I know very little about art. I just know I would rather have the “Dogs playing Poker” on my wall than a Soup Can.
Redd Panda over 3 years ago
I don’t know Art, not personally.
T Smith over 3 years ago
So-o-o-o predictable.
NeedaChuckle Premium Member over 3 years ago
Love watching Bob Ross paint, now that is an art!
William Bednar Premium Member over 3 years ago
One of those gentlemen is wrong. Problem is, which one?
Jeffin Premium Member over 3 years ago
Thanks for your good work, Art.
A Hip loving Canadian... over 3 years ago
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you some art
A Picasso or a Garfunkel
- Barenaked Ladies
well-i-never over 3 years ago
I wonder how much trash they do have to pull out of some of the displays.
zwilnik64 over 3 years ago
Art is one thing. A pretty neat thing. The art MARKET, however is ridiculous.
Cactus-Pete over 3 years ago
Extremely old joke. And art museums don’t put trash cans in the galleries. Nobody puts trash cans on pedestals. And where did all the trash come from? Especially since no one knew it was a trash can.
Banjo Gordy Premium Member over 3 years ago
Having graduated R.I.S.D. in 1959 with a degree in Advertising Design I was in a New York museum. Down a hall I saw what seemed to be an illustration of many human bodies. Got up close I discovereda variety of brown string tied in bows glued to background. Then during Army Howitzer training I noticed trucks with blue & white stars on the doors. Had a few tubes of Designer colors blue, went to the motor pool & changed a white star to blue. Motor pool Sargent had a fit & got someone drive it the correct motor pool. Rained that night….and… “Art” is in the eye of the beholder!
alexius23 over 3 years ago
Any modern archaeologists who be delighted to rummage through an ancient garbage dump
rickseg over 3 years ago
So the janitor is Woody Allen?
pcmcdonald over 3 years ago
I’ve used ‘so called’ art to throw my trash away, somebody has got to empty it.
awcoffman over 3 years ago
The “urn” is actually a molded plastic trash can from Walmart. Made in Taiwan.
cabalonrye over 3 years ago
Reminds me of that ‘art’ show of trash thrown around a room. The janitor cleaned it. It was a huge scandal, not that it looked like trash strewn around but that a janitor destroyed a thousands dollars worth of art. ‘Artists’ telling the world that people who don’t like or understand their creation are just ignoramus, because it is all in the meaning the artist wants to express, are part of that belly button gazing species called narcissists.
Yakety Sax over 3 years ago
Love it!
snowedin, now known as Missy's mom over 3 years ago
I hate it when bald guys have pony tails. What’s the point?
Mediatech over 3 years ago
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Honorable Mention In The Banjo Toss Premium Member over 3 years ago
Myself, I’m just as happy to frame an attractive calendar page or greeting card, and call it good. Been doing it for decades now.
theincrediblebulk over 3 years ago
To me art is a recognizable depiction of something from the real world. I particularly like storm tossed ships at sea with varying shades and tones capturing the illusion of the light breaking through the clouds. If the artist can capture movement, light and reality without it being a photograph I am always awed. I don’t care for geometric shapes or pictures of soup cans and Picasso clearly had some vision problems or hideous nightmares he was trying to exorcise onto the canvas. At least that’s my opinion which, when it comes to art is really the only opinion that matters to me.
JRMadDog Premium Member over 3 years ago
The “trash container” might be a one-of-a-kind piece used as a functional item . . . as intended by the artist.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member over 3 years ago
I just love to see a pompous arse taken down a notch. But I will agree with him on the “Pollock wannabe”. Pollock is the most easily copied artist. Which tells you a lot about Modern “art”.
billdaviswords over 3 years ago
It seems that it IS a piece of art in the collection (on a pedestal, doesn’t look like any trash can in the world) but people put trash in it. When the custodian dumps it, he enjoys the reaction.
l3i7l over 3 years ago
Art is that which reveals something about the world that we haven’t noticed before.
IshkaBibel1 over 3 years ago
When a co-worker looked at a Pollack and said “I could do that” I replied “But, you didn’t”
RobertCraigs over 3 years ago
I used to be an engineer. A Polish surrealist Zdzisław Beksiński’s canal fantasy has always impressed me. He said he wanted to paint photographs of peoples dreams. I can’t find a link to an image of the painting, but from a copy I have on my computer: A backlit-luminous sailboat is making its way down a valley, along a sinuous elevated canal that goes from sky blue to yellow. Down below is lush forest, and in the distance there is a hazy yellow sky. On either side of the valley are mountains soaring out of our sight. Near it, on either side, are stone spires, supporting boom cranes. Bridges pass from the spires to tunnels into the sides of the mountains…
NWdryad over 3 years ago
Obsequious detail? That’s a good one.
Plods with ...™ over 3 years ago
Pompassery take down. Woohoo
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 3 years ago
I used to know Art. He was a window washer on State Street.
mitchel.farr over 3 years ago
One of the best, Thanks.
mistercatworks over 3 years ago
The sad thing is, if you do have an open container or any kind, anywhere, people will put trash in it.
William Timm over 3 years ago
Best one in a long time…
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 3 years ago
How dare he use a piece of art as a clandestine trash can.
DCBakerEsq over 3 years ago
This was a lesson in my Spanish course, but the waste basket was the security guard’s sandwich. Si, es verdad.
christelisbetty over 3 years ago
What ? Nobody is going to defend the banana duct-taped to the wall ?
JenSolo02 over 3 years ago
It’s on a pedestal!
falcon_370f over 3 years ago
No Accounting for taste
spaced man spliff over 3 years ago
J. Fred Muggs painted that.
Ron Bauerle over 3 years ago
I didn’t slog through 222 comments to see whether anybody pointed out that he left out “the dichotomy of the human condition”…
johnec over 3 years ago
Embrace functional art. All things, even the most mundane trash receptacle, can be beautiful works of art.
The poetical art critic isn’t wrong!
Beachblooms over 3 years ago
Art is what the viewer perceives as. Simply what makes it good art is when it can inflict strong emotions on the viewer.
RohanDemon over 3 years ago
It all boils down to if you like it, it is art if you don’t like it is something else.
luke99 over 3 years ago
Huge fan of Wiley here. But it’s too bad he is recycling jokes from the 1990s. This joke was almost word for word in his collection “Beastly Things” from 1999
jonelphick 9 months ago
Contrasted by ??