I met a friend the other day, and she wanted to attend the unveiling of this new monument in our neighbourhood, commemorating a radio personality who fought Communism back in the day. Personally, I find this type of thing a little pretentious, but I went along for her sake, and wasn't surprised to find it was. Pretentious. Don't get me wrong, the sculpture was quite nice, I thought, quite modern, and I was keen on hearing the artist say a few words, maybe explain it a bit. And for a full hour of speeches, I can safely say...he did not.

What did follow the so-called unveiling was a stream of "high brow" intellectuals spouting nonsense and thumbing through the dictionary, seemingly, to craft pompous speeches to impress the audience. Oh, and politicians, can't forget politicians. Even though the occasion had no relation to Romania's modern politics, nor should it. 

Then finally, came the segment dedicated to the art itself, which saw some art critic lady strut up to the mic and blah-blah along, *explaining* the sculpture to the audience. I thought, *really?!*. First off, it struck me as incredibly pretentious and dismissive. While it was a nice sculpture, it was not the height of post-modernism. I did not require an explanation of a couple of people standing in bronze or whatever. Thank you.
Secondly, I didn't get it. Why get some random person who *can't* do art to explain a piece, when the artist is there himself? The sculptor's own meagre contribution came afterward in the form of thanks to various contributors.

**I thought, this is exactly what's fucked about the art scene today.**


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Art seems to have been appropriated in its entirety by these high brown, snotty intellectuals who think art has a little fence around it that says it's only just for them. No wonder so few kids are getting into it. If you start by telling me art is pretentious and *hard* and I'm gonna need a translator, chances are I'm gonna say bye, and I hate that, because the world we live in is pretty fucking terrifying at the moment. **We need art now more than ever before. It's not the time to be rationing it.**

I was listening to this brilliant conversation between Andrew Scott and Robert Icke (two leading names in modern British/Irish theatre), discussing the adaptation of *Hamlet* they staged together a few years back, and they struck the same note.
Talking about all the pretentious high regard we've built around Shakespeare, this impression that it's difficult, and old timey and high brow, and saying how that's just an add-on. Shakespeare, in his own time, probably wouldn't have known what iambic pentameter was, and more than likely, would not have given a singular fuck if he did. Because Shakespeare was writing to entertain the peasants, as well as the nobility, and hopefully take their minds off things like the plague and war and not having an heir to the throne, which might throw the whole country to the dogs.

Shakespeare, probably the "hardest" name in theatre still, wasn't ever meant to be hard. He was meant to be accessible, relatable. And he is, provided artists (and audiences) don't get it into their heads to speak in that stilted artificial way, or get all high and mighty about "doing Shakespeare".

**But why would you appropriate art?**

Art, in its own way, can be quite scary, because it's indefinite. Unquantifiable. And thus, impossible to own. And that's quite annoying when you like something very much, certainly. If I need you to explain art to me, then obviously I don't have it.

But I don't think that's the main reason these hare-brained individuals try to fence and make art only just theirs. I think it's because they're small. Much reduced, and more limited than they care to admit. They so desperately cling to this identity of theirs, as someone who is "an intellectual" that they forget to try and build things outside of it.

'Cause that's usually the moment where you start hoarding, and keeping people out of "your turf" -- when you don't know who you are outside of it. If all of us could "get" art, then you wouldn't be special anymore, because "getting" art apparently isn't so special, and you've no idea what makes you special otherwise.
Sad, certainly, but also dangerous.

If enough people start thinking art is hard and not worth the effort, then eventually, it will die out. As will artists. And then, what have we got, warmongers and robots? Can't see us faring well through that.


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