Weird for the sake of weird: is modern art “progress?”

In the world of Art, the years between 1900 and 1999 constituted a time of change and innovation the likes of which had never been seen before, and I would guess it will be another couple centuries before we see art change as drastically as it did in the 20th century.  The ascent of modern, and then “post-modern” schools of art have polarized artists and art critics like never before.  One can imagine the controversy surrounding Pablo Picasso’s revolutionary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon when it was first hit the scene in 1907.  Modern art doesn’t necessary “look like” what it depicts.  But the beauty of art (one of the beauties, anyway) is that a million people can have as many opinions on a single work.  Just think about what art was before the 20th century. Is there really that radical of a difference between 17th and 18th century art when you look at more recent works? Even the difference between Medieval and Renaissance European art between the 14th and 15th centuries pales in comparison to the explosion of art styles that came into being during the first few decades of the 20th century.

Here’s the question: is art moving forwards, backwards, or sort of (to the side)?  We can see some of the oldest works of art still in existence: the Egyptian Pyramids, for example.  Has mankind really improved its art well past these monumental mausoleums built almost 5,000 years ago? Once we as humans started to become civilized, we have always had the need to express ourselves creatively. Sure, we are smarter now than we were thousands of years ago, in the sense that our scientific knowledge has advanced. But has our creativity “evolved” as well? Some might say yes, after so much art has been produced, we now know what creates the biggest emotional impacts. Some might say no, how could it? Creativity by its very nature cannot be bound by the past: it is spontaneous and inspired, limited only by technology.  Modern and now Post-Modern art both seem to take the latter view: anything goes, no conventions. A canvas covered in white paint is art whereas 100 years ago it would have been garbage.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure