Ignorance is bliss...

I was recently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the girlfriend. We saw some great European art, Asian art, some really neat armor and weapon collections spanning back to the 13th century. We saw pieces by timeless artists, Monet, Cezanne, etc.

We eventually came to the Contemporary Art collection. I walked into a bad acid trip. I came across Cy Twombly's "Fifty Days at Ilium," which is an entire room consisting of ten massive paintings which play out the last fifty days of the Trojan War, as described by Homer in his "Iliad." Upon first look, I was a bit confused as to why an entire room in the Philadelphia Museum of Art would be devoted to scribbling on canvas. But I decided to push my ignorance aside for once and attempt to appreciate art that I obviously do not understand. I examined the paintings in the room carefully. They are all no doubt ripe with symbolism. Vibrant and violent colors definitely bring forth strong feelings in each piece. The childish handwriting does have an effect on the overall tone of the paintings, and he did seem to stay true to the theme of the the Iliad. These paintings are surely not something anyone who read the Iliad could easily create.

But I do have a few issues. I still don't appreciate this crap. Picasso created all kinds of abstract art, but he was fucking Picasso, he proved himself first. I was so fascinated with this Cy Twombly guy and his childish sketches that I went home and googled him to try and find any kind of painting that may require some kind of artistic ability, in the old school sense of the word. Nothing. No contemporary paintings, no self portraits, no normal, everyday paintings. Just more and more scribbles. And the man has such a brilliant mind that critics can see it in his scribbles and spashes of paint on canvas. I have no doubt that his mind definitely works in a different way than that of normal society. Give me 7 big canvases, 10 hours, a handful of psychadelic drugs and I will create an epic depiction of Dante's layers of hell that will attract any contemporary art critic for a further look. The only problem is I'll have to be smart enough to bullshit him into thinking there's any "substance" to it. "Well, I was tripping my ass off and I started to think that I actually was in hell, so I threw some red and black paint on the canvas and I feel that it evokes some terrifying emotions. I mean, I was fucking horrified at the time, my dog turned into the Devil and started screaming at me."