3/7/2014 The Ethics of Contemporary Art

by Kyle VanderWerf

One of the most divisive topics in art today is so-called “contemporary art.” There is much debate over whether a signed urinal or a piece of canvas with a single haphazard paint stroke or a styrofoam cup stapled to a plank of wood with a ladybug in it can be considered “art.” I posit that there is another, equally-if-not-more important question to consider when discussing contemporary art, namely: is contemporary art unethical? Is it unethical to produce or display in a gallery or spend thousands/millions of taxpayer dollars on pieces that may be considered overly simplistic, dumb, or just plain ugly? This Friday, I will lead Philosophy and Open Thought through several anecdotes related to contemporary art so that we may try to determine its ethical status.