Image from author.
In the age of endless Disney remakes, reboots, sequels, and the growing increase of AI in the art field, many have started asking whether art is dead. And while there is still art produced every day, it is overwhelmingly clear that what we once considered “art” is dead and buried. Gone are the days of Michaengelo, Da Vinci, Monet, and the other “great” artists of the past. However, there is no need to mourn. While that kind of pretentious crap has certainly died, art has been resurrected, now newer, flashier, and overall much better.
Humans want to be entertained. That is a fundamental fact of our existence. We live and breathe entertainment and will do anything to get it. While artists of the past foolishly strived to encapsulate the human spirit, art today is rightly created solely to entertain the people. The common Joe couldn’t care less about the fundamental nature of humanity or your half-baked thesis on love and emotion. He just wants to turn off his brain and relax in the midst of the hustle-bustle of the modern world. Even Shakespeare, proclaimed as the greatest artist of all time, appealed to the common people through crude fart jokes and consistent sexual innuendo. So why is it now suddenly a crime? Mass appeal is a signifier of greatness, not a mark of shame like the elitists of the art world want us to believe.
The modern world is about efficiency. We replaced trains with cars and telegraphs with cell phones, all in the name of getting things done as fast as possible. Why should art be any different? While the critics may kick and scream, the truth of the matter is that people want the 16th Jurassic Park film and the remakes of remakes of remakes. It is familiar and comfortable and easy. It makes them happy. Let the people be happy.
And if we can make people happy quicker, why would we choose not to? AI is not the big bad enemy of the art world that people make it out to be. We can make art quicker and faster and have much more of it than we ever could when we were relying on puny human skill. Human artists should not be kept around out of pity. They are functionally useless. Why would a company ever choose to hire someone who needs to be paid and fed and could die at any moment when they could ask a robot to spit out a result a million times faster? The consumers will be just as happy with their procedurally generated entertainment and the companies will save bucketloads of both time and money. The choice is clear.
Additionally, with the development of image generators, anyone can be an artist! All you need is the ability to type and a half-decent idea and you can create entire worlds in the blink of an eye. It’s time to stop sitting around and whining about the death of art and start celebrating this wondrous achievement. Facts are facts and no amount of pretentious think pieces on the value of humanity in the arts is going to change it. Art is dead. And I, for one, could not be happier about it.
Anna Davis is a senior at Washington High School and she grew up in Fremont, California. This is her first year writing for The Hatchet and she hopes to cover topics such as student culture and art. She is the president of the Creative Writing Club. She is also the Technical Coordinator for the Performing Arts Club and has stage managed multiple productions for the club. She hopes to one day become a professional author but until then she wants to study creative writing, history, or sociology in college.