The Death of Art
“I am sorry my friends, but it is high time that we proclaimed the death of art. Many times before have prognosticators predicted its demise—indeed, it seems every generation has its share of doomsayers—but there can be no doubt that our current era is art’s last. It is interesting to me that it was not censors or commercialism that delivered the deathblow, as many have predicted. What is killing art, and what will be its ultimate doom, is our collective attention deficit disorder. Let me explain before you regulate my argument to the waste bin.”
“Do you see that electronic device you are staring at? Yes, the mobile computer in your hands. That is the instrument through which your attention span has been decimated. You comb through your social media, click on whatever content that engages your immediate attention, and then watch it for a few seconds before moving on to something else. That his how you primarily experience media. Is it natural to have your attention stimulated in such a frequent manner thorough the utilization of algorithmic content engineered by professionals to commandeer your brain? Of course it is not. You don’t remember what you see, you simply yearn for the next piece of disposable content. And content is what it is—media designed to be consumed like a buffet spread, with only the choicest bits being eaten before the rest is discarded.”
“We don’t go to the cinema anymore, nor do we open up books or purchase a record. We watch whatever is streaming on various services, and it is background noise to be partially heard while we stare at our phones. Books require too much time and attention, and their immediate payoff is limited, so we shun them as antiquated and outdated methods of entertainment. Music is also something to be heard as ambiance, and so we listen to whatever the algorithm selects. Their is no choice in the matter, for we have delegated all of our decision-making to the machines, which in turn enslave us in a mindless search for dopamine stimulation.”
“If you doubt my thesis, let me ask you this: Where are the icons of our decade? Where is our Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Marlon Brando, or Miles Davis? Do we even have an equivalent to George Lucas? Eminem? Madonna? Where is the next Bob Dylan or Frida Kahlo? Do we even have a Snoop Dog? No, we do not. We have the vestiges of the past, exhumed and reanimated to perform for all time until all value has been extracted from their zombified remains. Nothing today has staying power because we can’t pay attention, and we are assaulted at all times with new content that takes the place of art.”
“It is not that art is not still being made. There are brilliant musicians, painters, writers, and film makers out there plying their trade. Yet they have not the means to achieve icon status because the monoculture that existed prior to the advent of the smartphone and the great fracturing of the internet does not exist to elevate them to that status. There is no system in place, no army of critics or even uncultured masses to bear witness to an artist’s greatness. Instead, the monolithic tech companies control what we see through the devices that they made us believe we must have. It goes far beyond art, actually. Do you think we could have had Donald Trump as President twice without our forty-five second attention spans? Just as there is no way for a piece of art to have staying power in the modern ecosystem, there is no way for a scandal to ferment and develop like Watergate. The President can investigate his enemies with the Justice Department while taking in a billion dollars in crypto assests while Americans die to ICE agents and farmers loses their farms due to increases in nitrogen prices due to Trump’s nonsensical Iran war. None of it lingers in the public consciousness because the public consciousness has been destroyed. Does anyone remember the Ukraine blackmail? The Muslim Ban? Covid? January 6th?”
“What will the future bring? Technological despotism? What happens to a society that has killed art? With the arrival of artificial intelligence, art will be devalued even more. If you can create a movie or a piece of music with a simple prompt, will you care what others have created through more honest means? Music and movies have already faded to background noise. What do we lose when we don’t make things that speak to the human condition? AI can’t tell me what it means to be a human being. Will we even know how to be human beings in the future? Or will we be rats running on a wheel, chasing a block of cheese that we can never fully enjoy?”
“What
do you want your children to learn? Do you want them to run outside
and play? Do you want them to read and make imaginary games and
listen to music? Or do you want them to stare unceasingly with eyes
fixated to a screen? Because the death of art will affect them
greatly. They will lose hope and imagination. They will not be able
to think critically or understand their surroundings. They will grow
stupid and lazy and despondent. Gradually, we will become extinct
because a civilization incapable of art is a civilization incapable
of existence. The death of art will herald the death of man.”
“So what can we do to prevent this downfall? Is it hopeless? We cannot will a smartphone out of everyone’s hand. But we can start by paying attention to things, from politics to music to what’s going on outside our window. We can stop letting our entertainment decisions be made by algorithms and instead actively search out new experiences. We can personally shun the smartphone dependence and try to teach such habits to our children. We can…”
“Alright, I think I’ve earned my ten dollars,” said the man.
“Wait a minute,” said the speaker. “I had just reached my conclusion.”
“I’m not listening to anymore of this bullshit,” said the man. “I got a bus to catch.”
“Did I reach you? Were you convinced?” asked the speaker.
“I don’t care,” said the man. “I wasn’t really listening.”
The bus pulled up to the stop, and the man held out his hand expectantly. With a great sigh, the speaker took out his wallet.
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