COLLECTION 2 - AVANT-GARDE

At this point complete irritation enters. I’ve
always believed that first of all art has to be
entertaining, enjoyable and fun! But fun isn’t
what I get to see here, on the contrary. But
perhaps it is just a question of age…
Two rows in front of me are sitting two girls,
in their 20s. Them too, they are carrying the
same meatball hairdo and the strict red lipstick
–and although, I guess that last week
they considered avant-garde to be a shampoo
series, they still swing in the same tempo as
their older art-appreciators and companions.
And they don’t even look like they’re enjoying
themselves in the least. Then again, it doesn’t
look like it’s about enjoying here. To be more
accurate I am not sitting in a concert but in a
battlefield. Under the cover of aestheticism,
a grand war of the intellectual individualism is
taking place –every one is here to mercilessly
show the rest how they are way more universally
understanding art than all the others.
And this war is as rough as the contrast between
the pallid skin and the blood red lipstick
in the haggard faces of these art-lovers. But
don’t expect anyone to talk about it. It is a
wordless battle, and a strange man in wild
thinning hair on the piano is responsible for
sounding the war drums.
I on the other hand have already lost this battle
–I ran out of understanding for this whole
circus a long time ago. For me it is not avantgarde
at all. More like shit. Boring unmusical
bullshit.
Or is it just me?
Perhaps there is something wrong with me? Or
am I too dumb, to understand all this?
Have I, an independent artist, just outed myself
as lacking any understanding of art, and
am I about to loose all my commissions and
end up sawing pork in some slaughterhouse to
earn a living? Fortunately, my train of thought
is interrupted that very moment. This saddening
clown on the piano has just ended his requiem
of horror, bows in front of his completely
taken and applauding audience and flings his
little hair neurotically through the air.
“Thank goodness”, I’m thinking, and eagerly
join in the applauding, to prevent my exposure
as an art philistine. Truly however, I am just really
happy this crap is over, much like most of
KALTBLUT
the guests attending. It’s obvious.. Photo by Ivo Hofsté
Avant-garde or not – next time it’s
the cinema for me.
347