So Where is the Democratized Artistic Genius?

Digital is edging out analog because it democratizes craft. We’ve greased artistic expression and access to talent with the speed of friction-free physics. Evidently neither technology nor egalitarianism does anything to stir the soul. Common sense leads us to expect an artistic tornado of stunning art. It’s a numbers thing.

The Moog Synthesizer had switched on Bach yet Moog Music isn’t an enduring listen. Rauschenberg erases beauty thus inspires – or provokes – the heart of an artistic movement. The contrast lies in communication – one way or two way; a cry for attention or a deep conversation, hobby or conviction.

Art is poetry when “poetry” is an emotionally rewarded aesthetic banter with our senses. Reduce craft to a one button push, the poetry now includes a lackluster effort to engage – similar to a street passing of two indifferent relations. There is no strength in laziness. A case for the enduring slog: Willem de Kooning to Rauschenberg, “I want to give you something very hard to erase.”

Genius lies in understanding that art involves the consumer’s world view, the context in which it is consumed, the collaborative nature of the work and the commitment of the artist. With his erased de Kooning, Rauschenberg proves that great art works don’t necessarily involve the tools of great skill. Our democratized digital renaissance proves similar; great tools don’t necessarily produce works of great art.