“The idea of content in art is today merely a hindrance, a nuisance, a subtle or not so subtle philistinism.” ArtIdeasTodayArt IsSubtleHindranceNuisance Author:Susan Sontag
“Today we say all art is political. But I'd say all art has to do with ethics. Which after all really comes to the same thing. It's a matter of attitudes.” ArtMatterTodayPoliticalPoliticsAttitudeEthicsArt Is Author:Ingmar Bergman
“The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous term) for breadth and depth of learning in the world history of art and thought... Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition. Overconcentration on any one point is a distortion. This is one of the primary reasons for the dullness and ineptitude of so much twentieth-criticism, as compared to nineteenth-century belles-lettres.” WorldArtReasonProblemTodayTermNumbersCenturyStudentsArt IsTraditionCriticismDepthAncientIgnorantPrimariesProfessorsWorld HistoryTheoreticalExpertiseDistortionNineteenth CenturyAcademiaSophisticationBreadthInterconnectedDullnessIneptitude Author:Camille Paglia
“Ah, well, during the Middle Ages, religion was often able to redeem art. Today, however, art is about the only thing that can redeem religion, and the clerics will never forgive us for that.” WellsArtAgeTodayAbleMiddleArt IsForgivingMiddle AgesNever Forgive Author:Samuel R. Delany
“I don't think that the big crunch should be seen as a menace, but rather as an opportunity. It's one of these times in -history - and we have plenty of examples from the past - where it's possible to really make a difference. And if art is serious about claiming a central role in today's society and culture, this is the best chance it's had in ages.” IfsThinkingShouldArtBigsAgeTodayPastCultureOpportunityDifferencesChanceRolesExampleSeriousArt IsPlentyMaking A DifferenceMenaceCrunchSociety And CultureToday's Society Author:Maurizio Cattelan
“I'm a New Yorker. I'm liberal and open-minded. Things don't really shock me. But I was reading the second-act today and thinking that if you're religious, you could be. But you shouldn't be! You can be extremely religious and have your faith and still be open-minded to art. Because this is art. That's part of the excitement. It literally is "The Jerry Springer Show" on-stage set to beautiful operatic music. That's what's so incredible about it!” IfsThinkingArtStillsShowsTodayBeautifulReadingReligiousStageArt IsIncrediblesExcitementShockBe YouOpen MindedNew YorkersJerryJerry Springer Show Author:Max von Essen
“Take Einstein; wasn't he looking for something stable and changeless in this enormous, constantly changing melting pot that is the universe? He sought fixed rules. Today, instead, it would be helpful to find all those rules that show how and why the universe is not fixed - how this dynamism develops and acts. Then maybe we will be able to explain many things, perhaps even art, because the old instruments of judgment, the old aesthetics, are no longer of any use to us - so much so that we no longer know what's beautiful and what isn't.” KnowsArtUseShowsWould BeTodayAbleBeautifulUniverseJudgmentArt IsInstrumentsEnormousFixedHelpfulPotStableAestheticsMeltingMelting PotDynamism Author:Michelangelo Antonioni
“One of the challenges to our nation today is overcoming the notion that art is kind of a nice-to-have, when in reality art is a need-to-have.” KindArtRealityTodayChallengesArt IsOvercoming Author:John Maeda
“It is not so for art in appreciation because art is concerned with human behavior. And science is concerned with the behavior of metal or energy. It depends on what the fashion is. Now today it's energy. It's the same soul behind it. The same soul, you see.” HumansArtSoulTodayEnergyBehindsFashionDependsBehaviorArt IsConcernedAppreciationMetalsHuman Behavior Author:Josef Albers