Has the concept of art become diluted?

Art has seen many forms, shapes and sizes over the years, changing faces into various different styles using different techniques and recording history in a way no written word could compare. Now when you think of Leonardo Da Vinci, you automatically think of the Monalisa, or when you think of Michael Angelo you think the Sistine Chapel right? Technical work done by skilled hands that stood the test of time, but what about modern art? Will it too stand the test of time and be remembered in the ages to come, or will it simply fade into the past, unnoticed and forgotten?

Now it is important to remember that everyone has different taste and what would be considered a masterpiece to some might just be an irritation on the wall to others – different strokes for different blokes I suppose. But the true question that seems to arise more than one would think is the one that has baffled both art lovers and artists for years, and that is has art become so diluted to a point where just about anything can be art and the even bigger question to ask is where do we draw the line with what is art and what is not?

This poses a very philosophical question to which there are many different answers. As mentioned earlier everyone has different tastes as everyone perceives art differently. To answer that you also need to understand different interpretations of which artists base their work on. It all begins with what story they want to tell and how crafty they will get to telling it. Some artists have a more literal way of telling their stories while others tend to paint a picture and ultimately leave it up to your imagination to fill in the rest. A good example of this would be abstract art.

But what if you happened to walk into a gallery and see a large canvas on the wall and there’s only a single dot or smudge in the centre or a rock in the middle of the room with one line drawn from one side to the other? Is that considered art, and would you buy it?

As I mentioned it all comes down to the story and why it was created. Perhaps to make a statement or perhaps because the artist was well known or had an influence in your life, that answer is only yours to answer. What does matter is how you look at an object or a painting and what it means to you, how you perceive it and how does it make you feel. Art is ultimately something very personal and it’s how it connects with you that make it powerful. 

So, to wrap it up the question remaining, has art become diluted? The answer is yes, it has become diluted. Not everything can be considered fine art and not everything will stand out as magnificent, but that does not mean that something can’t be beautiful and magnificent to you as only you will be able to justify the worth to yourself. Art is in the eye of the beholder after all.

I would love to hear your opinion on whether you think art has become diluted. Tell us more about your opinion in the comment section.