middle-brow, unibrow

Your beloved art isn't really art. It's "art." Sorry.

Urban Intellectual Fodder.

Neither original nor path-breaking, this art is derivative hommage; postmodern commentary around the edges of art.

It is art born of attitude, not passion. It is art that postures but doesn't grip. It is art created by those who are more passionate about a career in art than about art itself.

It encompasses:

1. The indie rock spawned in urban art ghettoes.

2. The visual art spelonked in Williamsburg.

3. The movies sputtered by independents hoping to get into Sundance.

4. The novels spritzed by creative writing majors from Iowa University and other environs....

All it does is put a sheen of high-brow smarts on art that is actually middle-brow. And comes out bloodless.

Good old fashioned aesthetic snobbery. It stings, but it sings.


[via Arts and Letters Daily]