I’m watching a TV show looking at local antique shops. In one of them, the shop owner, “artist”, describes a wall he built along his property line. The wall is made up of old doors, windows, bicycle parts, wooden tables, and other junk.

As he described what the wall “meant”, I realized that his approach to art was ‘build first, find meaning later’.

In the past, artists sought out something of beauty or interest, and then sought to capture it in the medium (paint, sculpt, photograph…). They used their artistic talents to enhance it for the viewers.

That’s why I don’t find modern art to be of value. I don’t want to look at a splotch of paint, or a random collection of junk, and then have to read a long narrative explaining what it’s supposed to represent.

Some may consider the long explanation as contributing to the art experience, maybe narrative writing is an art form in and of itself.I doubt they’ll hang the text on their wall at home, next to the artwork.

I view that approach as a rationalization of an object requiring little work, skill, or talent. Sorry, but in my mind it’s not art worth wasting time on.