*bump*
In a transitioning interlope to topic, let's talk about this greatness of art.
Is art shallow when it doesn't claim "something deep", is art pretentious when it does?
Is something deep only if it is melancholic, mysterious, sad and tragic?
Great only if you are compelled to stare at it for hours, great for all people?
Great only if it has lasting mark historically on culture, maybe a great message?
Must you have put a lifetime of effort into a work to have it be any great?
I like
Albrecht Dürer, but if every work of art were to become like his, because it is so great an art, it would have a harder and harder time affecting me, no matter how great it is technically and symbolically, its greatness cannot be greater than my moment of mood. The human soul is varied, and so is the greatness of art, and every element of this variety is deeply heartfelt, even the most cheesy romantic giggly huffpuff, even aggression, even hyperventilating rush, cruelty and mockery, or maybe tranquillity, maybe elegance, cliché beauty, or arrogance in technical superiority, and everything else... it's all part of how it feels to be, it's all truly deep, and it stops being deep without all the variety, that's when it becomes shallow and pretentious.
But you can look at this and say, this is the cutest thing I've ever seen, omg look, so cute! and marvel giggling stupid at it for hours, and for you that's a deep experience, as is for the one creating it, while everybody else deems you two shallow, maybe because they are too sad to feel the depth of simple happiness, and vice versa. Or you are mesmerized by a detail of the work, a specialist accomplishment, maybe even something about the process of work, and the big picture doesn't matter for you, maybe not even the result (some even say any result itself of art at work is worthless, and audience can only be shallow), at this moment all you care about is this little something that captured your curiosity, whatever it is, it is so peculiar, it's great, this little thing is a deep world for you, and right now you couldn't care less about the deep greatness of those other big things that are great art, and no one else's opinion changes that, while at the same time you become super shallow for super-imposing its greatness on everything else, to everything's disgrace.
Maybe rather than "great art", we should say "This artwork is great
at ... when you are looking for ...". It doesn't need to be super popular to be great, it just needs to be great at something to someone, not at everything it wasn't meant to be, to everyone who cannot see. Popularity is a quality in itself, yet it doesn't measure every other quality of it in greatness nor graveness.
You know Kant's "the critique of pure reason"?, we're talking the artistic limit of pure critique here.
And beyond either limit is the true greatness, and the only way to get there is humility -- a great critique roots in appreciative humility and curiosity in a benefit of doubt.
So that the notion of "great art" doesn't devolve into a question of "real art" -- maybe an oxymoron.