Art vs. Junk: New at Reason

The Guggenheim in New York has a new exhibit, a solid gold, working toilet titled “Maurizio Cattelan: ‘America’.”

A. Barton Hinkle writes:

That is tiresomely predictable, and about as clever as Internet trolls referring to Barack Obama as “Obummer.” But like “Obummer,” it flatters the dogmas of its intended audience.

The political angle matters less than the aesthetic one, though. A gold toilet is to real art what a toy Yoda is to a new automobile. But there is a sad difference between these two cases: Everyone at Hooters knew the toy Yoda was not an actual car. Nobody pretended the stuffed doll and the Japanese automobile belonged to the same taxonomic or ontological category.

Too much contemporary art tries, with a great deal of seriousness and self-regard, to claim just that.

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