Art and the Need for Experts

Any fans of The Graduate out there? Remember that scene where Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) tries to find something in common with Mrs. Robinson (the great Anne Bancroft) and brings up the subject of modern art? As I recall, he stumbles through some one-sided conversation and she has nothing to say. Then, when he asks her what she majored in in college, she says her major was modern art. That scene always makes me laugh, though the expression on Mrs. Robinson’s face is awfully sad.

I think I just had a similar experience tonight. I watched a program on the Ovation channel about Modern Art. I minored in Modern Art in college and worked at an avant-garde art magazine after college. I really haven’t given it much thought since then. I came to hate, loathe and despise everything to do with postmodernism when I was in graduate school So, watching this overview of modern about this evening was an, er, interesting experience. I felt like I simultaneously knew everything I was being told and like it was all new to me. The art works were all the same but some of the interpretations were a little different than I had previously known.



There was good old Cubism. Then, for some unknown reason, the show took a completely ridiculous turn to discuss Nazi art. I have no idea why because it was completely inconsequential and racist. Pure propaganda. Then it went back to discussing what I would call real art -- abstract art and abstract expressionism. After that I began to lose interest. I could never pretend to be very interested in Pop art or art of the 1960s-70s and later. Conceptual art mostly bores me. I like to look at art and understand it, or at least receive a visceral impression. I don’t want to have to read a description to understand it or prepare myself for it by reading a manifesto.

The host was saying some interesting things even if I had stopped looking much at the art work. He said something about how accessible art is now. That anything can be art and no one can tell you that it is or isn’t. Well, isn’t that just swell. Or, is it? Frankly, it probably means that a lot more bad and mediocre art gets accepted as good art now. I know that we probably don’t need an Academy system as once existed in France, where a group judges painters and paintings and puts a stamp of approval on what is Art. But, honestly, there is so much junk being called art now that it trivializes everything.

All of which made me think that we have democratized art to the point where there are very few respected critics or judges anymore. And, the same is true for many other areas of life. We, our society in modern times, has tried to do away with all of the experts. We’re democratic. Everyone is equal. Everyone’s opinion is equally valid. Therefore, we don’t need and don’t trust expert opinion. My opinion is just as good as yours. The opinion of the man on the street is just as valid as that of someone who has studied a subject for decades.

Perhaps this kind of thinking began when the monolith of the Catholic Church crumbled during the Reformation and Protestants announced that they didn’t need the expert opinion of the Pope. They didn’t need priests or saints to intercede for them with God. They could pray directly to the man upstairs themselves. Get rid of the “experts.” Of course, the next step is to get rid of the king -- have direct rule by the people through elected representatives. I’m sure if we could get rid of them we would.

We still have a few experts that we haven’t managed to get rid of yet -- doctors, lawyers, plumbers, computer geeks, and the like. We worship at the altar of those who can do things the average person can’t do. Just look how superior athletes are treated in our world. There’s an entire commentating class built around discussing what athletes do on Sundays. But, for the most part, we prefer to think that we’re all equal and that the things we produce are just as good as what other people produce. My artwork is as good as what’s in the museum. My poem’s as good as that girl’s. Anybody can write a novel.

From my perspective, there are also people who are trying to get rid of the experts on animals. Many dog, cat, horse and other animal breeders have devoted their entire lives to raising animals. They can tell more by glancing at an animal than some people can tell from a battery of tests. Yet, because our society prefers to believe that everyone’s opinion is equal and no one’s knowledge is anymore valuable than someone else’s, these animal experts are being ignored in favor of people who would rather believe animals are like furry children. This, of course, is the next step in our democratic movement -- animals must have rights too, don’t you know? And who else can speak for the animals but the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It’s also nice that there are more fundraising dollars in promoting this kind of “democracy” for animals, isn’t it? Get rid of the animal experts -- the breeders and those who work with animals -- by means of legislation that outlaws breeding and owning more than a couple of animals. Then the “guardians” and “caregivers” (oh, we don’t “own” animals -- that would be wrong) of the fur-children can send you lots of money so you can work to get more animal rights.

No matter what realm we’re speaking about, be careful about getting rid of the experts in a field. They are the ones who know the past and can predict the future. Their knowledge isn’t easily replaced.