Is There Such a Thing as Bad Art? Essay Example

Art is art. Whether a piece is good or bad is subjective to the observer’s point of view. It is hard to depict what makes art good or bad and therefore one must look at other art forms besides paintings. For instance music is another form of art. Does one like every song one has ever heard? Of course not, but one also knows that there are others who love that very same music. Arts merit is in the eye of the beholder. Nothing is bad to everyone. Bad art is a relative term. Conceivably if there is such a thing as bad art then this is art that one feels no response to. Perhaps bad art closes oneself to it. One sees something one doesn’t like, and without giving it a further thought one turns away. Or when one does give it a further thought, one thinks only about how the piece of art was, but not about oneself in relation to it. But is having no response a response within itself. Perchance the judging of art cannot be decided by responses. But rather if one cannot speak negatively of an artistic statement, instead one can only speak of one's inability to find artistic merit. And therefore, to speak negatively of art is really to speak negatively of one's own lack of imagination or emotional responsiveness. Or maybe one simply does not understand what the function of art is.
However, maybe good art IS only good when it provokes a response. And when one looks back at ones response it is only significant if one notices a change in oneself. Still, these feelings may or may not exist when viewing a piece of art. And if those feelings do not exist it is not because the art is universally bad or good. Instead it is because the piece is bad or good to you.
Conceivably art’s sole reason for existence is to provoke emotion. But then what type of emotion? One may see a gory painting that makes one revolt, but is that good art? Is a piece of art only good because it is popular or trendy? And if so then does bad art become good art when it is decided popular. Perhaps a painting