THE NON-ARTIST SLEEPER

Every once in a while art hits the mainstream media. Usually it revolves around money. Somebody discovers a Pollack in a thrift store or a Constable in the attic and the 24 hr. news cycle plasters it across all the outlets. Sometimes it involves a monumental work by a well known artist like Christo or that big rock by Michael Hieser. But then it all dies down and art is forgotten again, in favor of Taylor Swift's love life.  The most recent example of "pop" art is actress Tilda Swinton sleeping in a big glass vitrine yesterday at MOMA in NYC. It's all about material. You want people to pay attention to your woman in the box? Put an academy award winner in it. Well, predictably the artfags are all up in arms over a "non-artist" movie star bum rushing our select little world, calling herself a "performance artist". HOW DARE SHE? Poor James Franco is immediately lumped in with Tilda and the wires are a-buzz with star bashing. Lets all calm down here and see what's at play here.

   Art, like the fashion world of the 90's and hillbillies on TV, has become co-opted by pop culture in the 21st Century. No longer a rarified world of tea sipping, pinky extended, pointy toed shoe wearing "experts", art is for everyone and echoing Joseph Beuys "Everyone an artist." I'm all for it. But lets be clear here. It's high end gallery, jet-setting, museum installed art world that is drawing in the movie stars. And this world, like the politics, is very appealing to the average movie star looking for a wider circle of ass-sniffers. You don't see too many movie stars (with the exception of Wokeen Feenix) doing good art. And none are in the trenches. The glass box is a rip off of a 70's piece done by Collette and aside from jetting around with Marina Abramovic i don't know what James Franco has done. That said, I welcome them. I'm sure it's not easy being a movie star. If they want to add "performance artist" to their list of accomplishments God bless them.
   All these idiots that are so incensed by a "non-artist" in a fucking box, pisses me off more than any sleeping actress. Of course I would've cast it differently- Lindsay Lohan with a bottle of vodka and a barf bag, trying her damnedest not to tweet for five minutes, in that box would've been way more artistic in my view. I've been called a lot of things in my life, "performance artist" being one of the worst. I've always hated that term. It's right up there with poet. Hollywood is welcome to it. Even artist stinks these days. Maybe non-artist is the way to go. Move over Tilda, I need a good sleep.