A Proposal for a Cultural Civics University Requirement
It seems to me that so many of the criticisms of Art institutions and Art practice have a very simple way of being resolved. And that is by teaching the basics of cultural civics. In other words, Art (for Art's Sake) is an exclusively human endeavor. The animal kingdom is colorful and sports an occasional mating, trained, or otherwise co-incidental activity that can be aesthetically pleasing enough to be labeled as 'art'. And because humans are political about all kinds of human activity, art itself has become hostage to the whinings. Regardless of the pet peeve, it seems to me that the cure is to develop a generational cohort of individuals who will bear personal responsibility for correcting these perceived aesthetic injustices. A course can and should be developed that encourages individuals to buy art that they feel strongly about. So an understanding of how to budget for art might be one component of such a course. How inexpensive or expensive is it really to buy art...