Why open this museum? The labile boundary between art and what art is not.

It is a thought that I already came to my mind in seeing works of art that in my opinion were not art. Here, we could open a big chapter, and some might say that art is art when people like it and that it is not always easy to understand, that it is necessary to first study and analyze the historical period and the context in which the work was created, etc. And that’s true, I learned it when I got ready for my graduate exam at university. I have learned that some abstract or strange paintings arise from precise and profound ideas and that they performed at that precise moment were certainly revolutionary. But I think sometimes museums are a product packaging, making a bad creation an artistic product.

Yesterday I went to visit the Contemporary Art Museum near Circular Quay with a former Italian colleague, and, like other museums, the entrance to see the permanent collection was free. Luckily. I would not have digested the idea of paying for anything. Yes, that’s right, nothing.

Just a few moments after the entrance I was already puzzled about the empty spaces and the almost absence of works of art. The museum has three levels: on the first floor there are black and white photographs of Aborigines not far from a 3D reproduction of Spiderman (now tell me what the aborigines are about with spiderman, boh.), Two medium-sized rooms, one With only one painting, the other with no work inside, only illuminated walls and others in shade, perhaps it was a work of art based on the concept of lights and shadows, mah. The most absurd thing was to listen and see the faces of the guide and the group of people who listened to her as if she were talking about a picture of Raffaello or Giotto! On the other levels, there were paintings of fantasy and abstract art, some very nice others at this level (put pictures), and among the many useless things of the original aboriginal works.

Now do fantasy paintings involve aboriginal art?

It seems like talking about art is all lawful, but I do not think it is fair to the true artists of which the world is full. It seems as if a work, a crust, an absurd composition of objects and sometimes animals, enter a museum to be defined as art.

I think instead that if you have nothing to say, then it’s best to leave these huge spaces for something else like an Aboriginal Art Museum or an open space for young artists or street artists open to the public.

What is the point of opening such a museum? I understand that Australia has little to say from an artistic point of view, but why not open a museum dedicated to surfing and/or the beach guard? I think it would be extremely interesting.

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