If a piece of art is not original, does it lose artistic value? Art is defined by Merriam- Webster dictionary is: “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects,” If the artist is able to express themselves in the piece, it is art. For example, the artwork The Emperor Has No Balls is a statue of Donald Trump with a micropenisi. The artist created an artwork that expressed his thoughts on Donald Trump, and despite the lack of originality, I believe that it is a work of art, Artwork throughout the ages has invoked criticism and disgust by the then-present audience, and future audiences, But, that has never stopped historians and art connoisseurs from calling controversial work of arts such as The Origin of the World, by Gustave Courbet, a masterpiece. In the modern day, we even have a genre of artwork that is dedicated to nudism.
Similarly, we also have art genre dedicated toward political arti There are a couple of aesthetic principles that is important to consider, “Objects are aesthetically value if they have the capacity to convey values or beliefsm” During the 2016 Presidential Election, there were many debates on whether or not Donald Trump was capable of performing presidential duties The statue of Donald Trump represented these concerns and fears for, then our presidential candidate. Mocking the then presidential candidate Donald Trump, now president, is still a form of entertainment. That leads into another important aesthetic principle, in which “objects are aesthetically valuable if they have the capacity to produce pleasure in those who experience or appreciate them,” When the statue of Donald Trump was unveiled, it drew large crowds of people.
Looking at the articles and pictures posted online, people were having fun and waited in lines to pose with the statue, It became a meme, a form of amusement, to poke fun at the then presidential candidate’s genitalia when the statue was erected Therefore because The Emperor Has No Balls conveyed a political message and produced pleasure to some who viewed the statue, I believe it is a work of art There are others who disagree, such as Amber Tamblyn who believes that this statue is unoriginal and therefore not art, “These statues aren’t art: They are a lazy, unoriginal concept, stolen mind you, from Illma Gore’s painting which already made this exact same point earlier this year.
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This is wholly unoriginal and uncreativet” While I agree originality can help boost the value of an artwork, I do not believe the lack of it prevents it from being art. An example would be the artist Elaine Stuttevant, who copied another artist‘s work and added a twist to them She is famous for copying Andy Warhol‘s Marilyn Monroe and changing the colors, These artworks are normally shown side by side in museums and are both renowned as masterpieces in their own regard, Similarly, the artist of The Emperor Has No Balls used Gore’s painting to create a statue; this statue strengthens Gore’s message by breathing life into painting and its message. While the art may have borrowed from Gore’s original design, similar to Sturtevant, that does not disqualify the statue from being art.
Critics such as Murray Whyte, an author for The Guardian, believes that The Emperor Has No Balls isn’t art because it lacks subtlety. In Whyte’s article, Ageist and body/shaming Trump statue falls short as art and satire, he claims that the political message must be subtle similar to, “Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel [which] are embedded with cheeky in< jokes aimed at the ruling papal class,” The lack of subtlety should not disqualify the piece from being art, Governments such as China hold a similar belief, this can be seen in Shanghai‘s Propaganda Poster Art Centre: which is dedicated to Communist China propaganda.
These older artworks are put on display, despite their very apparent political messages Therefore, lack of subtlety can exist in a work of art, The Emperor Has No Balls is a work of art. It is important for art to display the values of the artist Unlike long speeches or books, art can captivate people of any age or education, this allows the artist’s message to meet larger groups of people in comparison. It is also important for the art to bring pleasure because it is difficult to look at art and find meaning if you view the art as repulsive.
The lack of originality does not disqualify a work from being art because art is often replicated, Sometimes the artist may carry the same message as the original art, and other times they want to change the message, it still is a work of art none the less. The lack of subtlety of a political message also does not disqualify a work from being art. This can be seen by the propaganda museums that are set up and dedicated toward arts with non subtle political messages. Art is used to bring pleasure and messages to people, The Emperor Has No Balls is a masterpiece that fulfills those duties.
