{"id":8735,"date":"2012-05-15T02:37:22","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T10:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.godammit.com\/?p=8735"},"modified":"2012-08-16T00:28:52","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T08:28:52","slug":"beyonce-and-the-scream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/beyonce-and-the-scream\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyonce and The Scream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Th other day, my nephew R was visiting and I asked him if he’d seen or heard about Beyonce<\/strong>‘s wacky Met Gala dress. Since R is one of the most culturally literate people I’ve ever met, it was a reasonable question.<\/p>\n

His response was to shake his head in dismay and express contempt for the idea that anyone gave a shit about Beyonce’s dress. Why should anyone care about this, he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

I considered his question and asked, Why should anyone care about anything?<\/p>\n

This is the type of conversation I live for. And R is always up for it.<\/p>\n

I asked him if anyone should care about the recent auction of “The Scream<\/strong>,” which set a world record by selling for $119.9 million. He said, Yes, because it reflects the state of the current art market and blah blah blah.<\/p>\n

Why is “The Scream” more important to know about than Beyonce’s dress? This is a real question. I think that everything we “care” about is just a distraction from the horror of existence. Any time you find yourself in a life or death situation, you realize the fatuousness of all your preoccupations, of everything going on around you. Your choice of car, your shoes, your blue-ray TV, your favorite band, it’s all a distraction.<\/p>\n

Moving away from existentialism, I wonder why The Scream is worth $119.9 million. It’s obviously one of the few paintings that is instantly recognizable by any imbecile. The Scream, the Mona Lisa<\/strong>, and Sunflowers<\/strong> are probably the big three, in terms of iconic paintings, right? And I love The Scream, but only because I know it’s an expression of unversal anguish. If it was called “The Toothache”, would it still be worth all that money?<\/p>\n

We like The Scream because our taste is a consequence of our social class<\/a>. Beyonce’s dress probably strikes my nephew as too crass<\/a> and lowbrow to merit his interest. He may not know that you can take a course in Beyonce Studies at Rutgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I am comfortable with the idea that it’s all bullshit, but it’s my nature to wonder about human behavior, even my own. As I continue to waste my time with Tumblr, I’ve been wondering how I make the distinction between real art and kitsch. I tend to disdain the latter, but I wonder if Kitsch is in the eye of the beholder. I also wonder when I’ll be able to stop distracting myself with Tumblr and TV and start experiencing my actual self again.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, where do you stand on Beyonce’s dress, The Scream, and whether you should give a shit? Thoughts, arguments, insults?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"