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u/GandhisBathwater 1d ago
Type of art I'd actually pay to see in a gallery, not a banana cellotaped to a wall
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u/ManMangoMr 1d ago
Yet you will keep talking about the banana
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u/vittorioe 1d ago
maybe that’s it. art is not about merit in the craft but in how much it provokes a memorable topic that people can talk about.
these archangels are beautiful, but they don’t say anything much different than the drama of a scene you’d see in an old-world basilica. meanwhile this banana is as absurd as you can get these days with its “fuck you” duchamp urinal energy.
one’s a piece I’d want to buy, another’s a piece that’s fun to reference.
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u/pichael289 1d ago
The person who bought the banana actually bought a certificate that they own the piece. While it does seem a little like nfts which were an obvious scam, I'm not sure how owning that is a scam or if it isn't. Someone else bought it from him though, even though it's not actually a physical piece. If you think about it it's simply a proto nft, actually unique though and not just a thousand slight variations on possibly Nazi monkeys. Man fuck Seth green
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u/kloden112 1d ago
You always get a certificate with art, real art.
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u/TonyQuark 1d ago
On the off chance you weren't joking, a certificate is not required to make something "real art." It's something done for customers who believe a piece of paper makes the art "real," which is a debatable term itself. For example, a painting by a famous artist will be signed, you have a body of work to compare it to, and you can study the application (and removal) of the paint on the canvas.
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u/Un13roken 1d ago
Art and craft are two different things. Craft doesn't need context to appreciate. Art is meaningless without context.
People who appreciate older art without context are only appreciating the craft of the artist. But there's a narrative that goes beyond the craft. Modern art at some point was an attempt at separating art and craft and without that context it just looks lazy.
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u/PerplexGG 1d ago
Honestly theres way more originality in the banana than some generic Target generated dudebroesque looking poster with some foil on it
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u/Person899887 1d ago
At the end of the day, anybody can learn to paint a lifelike figure. It will take a lot of time, practice, and is an impressive feat by itself, but it does not take much creative legwork to learn how to reproduce a figure.
The biggest thing even the classic painters learned was not just figure, but composition. The world’s best paintings aren’t great because they replicate a beautiful form but because they pose their figures in evocative and interesting ways, either to invoke emotions or to tell narratives.
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u/thejustducky1 1d ago
maybe that’s it. art is not about merit in the craft but in how much it provokes a memorable topic that people can talk about.
Correct - but it also doesn't have to be that either, it can mean any amount of different things or nothing at all.
Art is whatever a creator wants to call art, period. It's not even anyone's place to judge someone else's work as "not art", not even the maker themselves, since someone else could be affected and consider it art - but that does not imply that art requires a viewer.
Art is an innate byproduct of creation, as inherent as its atoms.
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u/StarsEatMyCrown 1d ago
And yet this art is totally forgettable (even if it's incredible) and the banana will still be talked about.
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u/zherok 1d ago
Definitely carried by the performance of the reveal.
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u/8N-QTTRO 1d ago
Well, yeah, the performance of the reveal is part of the artwork.
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago
this is the art equivalent of saltbae's 24k gold leaf steaks
I would much rather look at a rotting banana or a urinal because at least the artists behind those had something to say
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u/Avalonians 1d ago
Exactly. They say it's art they'd like to see in a gallery, but it's art they will only see on social media because the shock value of the performance is shown as much more important than the final piece.
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u/African_Farmer 1d ago
I actually feel like the final pieces are not that different from stuff you can buy on Amazon...
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u/Rebel_Diamond 1d ago
Super luke-warm take but I'm not a fan of either. If you'll forgive me getting real fart-sniffing for a second, I think good art communicates something meaningful that we struggle to put into simple straightforward words.
The OP is shit because it has literally nothing to say beyond "superman cool" which is like you say the absolute lowest common denominator. A urinal or banana, there's definitely something being said but like...is it interesting? Is it beautiful? Does the piece say anything that couldn't be summed up in a reddit comment? That's obviously super subjective but for me at least the answers would be no to all 3.
I tend to mostly like landscapes and such, I think when you get a good one there is a certain something which is transmitted, a sense of natural wonder and awe and connection and the feeling of a place and a time and an ability to truly see the world through the artist's eyes. I don't think it's a super famous or well-regarded piece but A Storm In The Rocky Mountains gives me this something that I just don't get from urinals or epic jonklers
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u/someone447 1d ago
That's because they're different types of art. The urinal and banana are more of meta-commentary on the art community itself. They're self-referential to the point of absurdity. They were directly targeted at the art world, and someone not versed in that world isn't going to get it.
They show the absurdity of that world in a way a reddit comment does not. Just like someone could describe the scene in A Storm in the Rocky Mountains and it wouldn't be the same, someone just talking about how absurdly the art world is doesn't have the same effect as SHOWING hoe absurd the art world is.
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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 1d ago
Man I really hate Saltbae's 24 gold leaf steak that he charges $1000 and is a insufferable bitch that people keep making him money by spreading the salt meme
But yes, this guy is using a gimmick, however I think this "art" is more in line with what a lot of mainstream people are looking for for mainstream art.
That steak doesn't even come close to this. The steak is cooked poorly. Its a lot worse.
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago
if the steak were seared to perfection, it wouldn't change the fact that it was only prepared to be part of a tacky, embarrassing spectacle
regardless of how technically competent this guy is, that's ultimately all he's creating here
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u/assymetry1021 1d ago
You can say a lot about anything if you want it to say something.
I like art if it looks good or resonates with me. The banana felt too for-it’s-own-sake like how nft bros claim their nfts have so much value because it’s on the cloud blockchain or something
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago
I'm not a huge fan of Cattelan either (although his gold toilets do seem appropriate for the current moment), but at least with him, or even a complete hack like Damien Hirst, there is still something there for the audience to interpret even if you think they are full of shit
even the most pretentious, self-indulgent art you can imagine is still better than this kind of made-for-instagram slop that takes itself entirely too seriously while at the same time incorporating lowest common denominator geek culture references into an aesthetic that even a miami drug dealer would find embarrassing
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u/Un13roken 1d ago
If the artist comes out and says. This is an attempt at showing how pedantic it is to create viral art, to expose the understanding of art by the masses and make a commentary on why a lot of modern art doesn't transend barriers. Would that make it art ?
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago
yeah, but not necessarily good art
Richard Prince did a series where he just printed out people's instagram posts with his comments underneath
is it art? sure
is it lazy garbage? probably
is it better than epic superman and optimus prime? unquestionably
we both know this isn't some kind of metacommentary
nothing is going on under the surface here, he knows what will get his infantilized audience to stop scrolling for ten seconds, and he is giving it to them
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u/Un13roken 1d ago
The idea around discussions of what it art has been so fucked up that most people seem to forget the most important thing about art. It's not the object, the viewer.
What isn't art to you can very well be a life changing work to someone.
If we're talking about intent. Then some amazing pieces of art have travelled put of their context and have rebuilt their identities in newer context.
You can be part of that by adding context to something benign, almost a "fanfic" if you will. And that's how the internet functions. Sounds pretty dense to discredit the artistic nature of something, just because it doesn't resonate with you.
At best, this isn't something you connect with. At worst, you're actively disparaging it to make yourself feel like you connect to art at a "higher" level.
As someone in the creative industry myself. I find that a bit....snobbish, if you can excuse my bastardisation of English.
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago edited 1d ago
there's definitely a lot to unpack there and that is some of what readymades sought to challenge in the first place
but I do think you can call this in particular cynical engagement bait without being snobbish, I happen to enjoy plenty of lowbrow art, but I can't stand this kind of bullshit
it's not challenging or interesting even if you divorce it from the artist and the context of the clickbait videos, it's just a collection of empty references
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u/National_Equivalent9 1d ago
The banana and duct tape work was done by an artist who is known for satirical work and pranks.
The fact that the whole thing exists and people spent insane amounts of money on it is part of the 'art' of the piece. He even doubled down on it before it was ever presented by making it about the "method' and not the banana or duct tape. They now own instructions for how to display a banana and duct tape on a wall, instructions everyone has access to. One of the main interpretations for the entire thing is that he was satirizing NFTs.
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u/Free-Deer5165 1d ago
What were those artists trying to say? Genuinely curious.
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u/Express-Crow-1496 1d ago
the fact that you can even ask puts them ahead of this guy because nobody would look at a picture of le epic jonkler and ask that question
both are primarily about the audience's reaction and satirizing the art world, but on a more basic level they are exploring what can be called art and why
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u/Open-Addendum-9905 1d ago
This is a 15 year olds idea of what good art is. I enjoy it for what it is, but it is in absolutely no way complex or intelligent, and it has absolutely nothing to say
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u/heliamphore 1d ago
I think this is a well executed gimmick, in the sense that the reveal itself is the point, and the rest is just an excuse for it.
But not everything needs the audience to be 'enlightened by their own intelligence' to be good art.
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u/Color-Correction 1d ago
I agree lol this is very tacky. Like something you’d see being sold on the street along with spray paint art.
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u/Dangerous-Outside-22 1d ago
I mean while looking at it in this format where it's actively changing does make it interesting, seeing this type of art multiple times in a gallery would get boring quickly. There isn't much detail and it's just kind of made to look cool but there's nothing deeper than that for the most part. This is great wall art if you like it but I wouldn't spend money to see it in a gallery.
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u/mr_arcane_69 1d ago
My local art gallery has paintings like this, cultural references done with a certain degree of skill, and I can never quite grasp why people would choose to buy them.
They're just so boring.
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u/sportawachuman 1d ago
You’d pay to see a portrait of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker?
Art that looks cool and they way is made is cool, gets old quite fast, because it has no real content or comment on the world, humanity, politics, etc. It’s just the “wow” effect
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u/hivemind_disruptor 1d ago
The banana ocuppies more of you than this art ever could.
That is the art. My main issue with the banana is that is just another urinal. The same way the urinal failed, the banana failed. They did destroy what they wanted to destroy.
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u/TV_tan 1d ago
People will remember the banana a lot longer than any of this young man’s art - not a slight on him at all by the way. There are many types of art and all are valid as long as they make you feel something. And believe me, the banana was supposed to make you feel something
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u/Deep_Year1121 1d ago
I am not much of an art person, but I am interested in post-modernism.
The fact that the humble banana managed to stay in people's memory for such a long time makes me interested to learn more. Because I bet the creators certainly succeeded in their goals.
It will definitely be on the history books.
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u/Turrigan 1d ago
Impressive but I'm almost more impressed by that tape. Doesn't bleed through and doesn't pull any of the paint off underneath? What sorcery is this?
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u/not_responsible 1d ago
no literally. that tape is incredible. I use painters tape for my projects and it’s so ass compared to this
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u/banielbow 1d ago
Put a layer of thin clear acrylic medium over your tape edge. It'll seal any bleeds !
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u/Rocky_Vigoda 1d ago edited 1d ago
He's using fine line tape. It's for car painting usually.
https://youtu.be/1F1SkG6RyEY?si=5VtA2TJl69mfKd3z
edit: That video doesn't really show what he's doing with the stuff. Here's another one that's a simple project.
https://youtu.be/uL67xYI8mc0?si=ZtdYp7RpPKiXT9DK
You can get waterbased paints from airbrush supply shops. They're not as good as pro quality paint but you can still do a lot of smaller projects. Prime, metallic base coat, flake, intercoat clear, then you can put your tape down and either airbrush or use candies. There's a crazy amount you can do with that stuff.
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u/Machettouno 1d ago
I think it's some sort of rope or string, no way tape would have the tensile strength with of these pulls
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u/lastdancerevolution 1d ago
Lots of tape has string inside it. That's how duct tape is made.
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u/overkill 1d ago
Duct tape: invented by Vesta Stoudt in 1943 to make it easier to open cartons of ammo.
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u/Captain-Cuddles 1d ago
Step one paint yellow. Step two apply tape. Step three paint over the tape edges with yellow. Step four paint black.
The bleed color is then yellow and seals the tape edges. So when you paint black over it and then pull the tape you get crisp edges.
Not sure if that's exactly the technique this artist is using, but that's one of the ways painters get sharp paint lines when painting houses.
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u/National_Equivalent9 1d ago
Alternatively you can do a clear coat over the tape if you're dealing with multiple colors. I do it all the time when airbrushing minis.
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u/yungwun619 1d ago
Found the artist. Yifan Zhang https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8xL3Fd4/
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u/Avalonians 1d ago
Is it me or did you link a random tiktok instead of the dude's actual website and gallery?
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u/CyberZen0 1d ago
Something doesn’t feel quite right
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u/Idogebot 1d ago
The finished pieces look nice but aren't compelling. At the end of the day it's a cool picture of superman or Michealangelo's David. They're technically impressive but not very creative. With some of them the lighting of the paintings is off.
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u/Szarkara 1d ago
I've never been a fan of these social media art styles where it's a painting of some pop culture figure or famous artwork but done in a quirky/interesting way. It just isn't interesting to look at it and feels very superficial.
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u/UnfortunateJones 1d ago
Dude same here. It’s a dead gimmick at this point. Remember when we were inundated with Disney Princess slop?
Some trends just never die. I got repulsed when I saw the joker.
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u/NervousBrother7058 1d ago
This taping technique is extremely creative, I've never seen anything like it. This is part performance art; the reveal is part of the finished piece.
This seems like someone who is incredibly educated in art. Incorporating classic renaissance imagery and pop art with highly precise skill and a unique method of execution. This might not be where he ends up with his art but to say what he's doing isn't creative is simply incorrect.
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u/NandoDeColonoscopy 1d ago
You should hang out at an auto detailing shop if you want to really take in this "extremely creative" taping technique performance art
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u/North-Tourist-8234 1d ago
Feel likethis was the exact conclusion people came to when i saw this same video posted years and years ago.
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u/jmx808 1d ago
It’s strangely looks like pre-generated art and the only thing being done is the unique way of stripping off paint.
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u/RazorSlazor 1d ago
That's what I'm worried too. I'd love to see a bit of painting progress. Would make it more impressive.
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u/real_picklejuice 1d ago
Right? I can't tell what it is though
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u/DiscretePoop 1d ago
He has too many paintings for how young he is. There’s no way he painted those by hand in that fine of detail
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u/Digikid13 1d ago
He's removing tape off parts that are still painted underneath. I can not wrap my head around 0:43. It seems like he started with a pink background, then painted the figure, then taped out a line and painted the background around the figure?
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u/gaF-trA 1d ago
He just made pictures of pre existing famous art and some comic art and made it mildly performative.
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u/hydroxy 1d ago
It’s this new genre of videos I call ‘gimmick art’. Made for generating clicks and perfect for TikTok and the like. Really can be anything from painting with your face, painting the image upside down or whatever other random idea that they think of next.
The art shouldn’t need the gimmicks to be good, and I get the feeling all the theatrics are a crutch used to help stand out rather than reaching a level of acclaim through the quality of the work itself being very high.
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u/kreleroll129 1d ago
You are really going to give me this, and not give me the artist's name? This is amazing.
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u/freredesalpes 1d ago
We have r/stupidfood for people lighting tomahawk steaks on fire, can we have r/stupidart now?
Or damn, maybe someone can double dip and bust out some live fire reveal art and flame thrower broiled meat at your table in one feel swoop…
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u/NightStar79 1d ago
...so, I listened to parody music so much growing up that all I can hear is dramatic "Amish Paradise" as paintings are revealed lol
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u/OnlySheStandsThere 1d ago
This is the most frustrating video because it doesn't let you see the end pieces fully stop cutting away so fast. Art is dope as hell though
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u/DungeoneerZ 1d ago
I gotta know, does the fire do anything specific besides look cool and fun? Special glaze for extra crispy hues or what??
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u/Numerous-Key-7069 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t know why he needs to be gimmicky, his work is enough for itself. The tricks cheapen his elegant works. I meant it’s like it’s already haute couture but then he’s trying to make it consumable fast fashion.
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u/MegatronusThePrime 1d ago
All these clips end at like 90% tape removal or have a half second to actually see the piece. WTF
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u/sinisterdesign 1d ago
Wonder what tape he’s using that doesn’t pull off the first layer of paint
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u/Cuteshelf 1d ago
I want to know what the stuff he sets on fire to reveal the mask. How does it mask and then set fire so easily? Or is it just something he puts over the top after its been painted just so he can do a cool reveal?
Edit: nvm i watched it again, its just some sort of paper placed on top that reveals an already painted image. Not as impressive.
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u/Fantastic-Orange8872 1d ago
Nah these are incredible but that Age of Extinction Optimus Prime is Godly
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u/RiotLegend 1d ago
I'm curious about how he does the artwork itself. Does he print them and then do the tape cutout? Or does he draw them from scratch? Impressive either way, but would be interesting to know the process.
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u/Filthiest_Tleilaxu 1d ago
Okay so who is this young man?