The Art World Cup!


A while ago I saw a post on Facebook about an art competition where a so-called master had challenged another to a painting contest, or better to say a duel, to decide which one of the two was better! It struck me as a quaint idea.

Ludicrous as it may sound, it is amusingly indicative of the nature and motives behind some, if not all, artistic endeavours! But why not? If sprinters and chess players can have championships, why should artists deprive themselves of the excitement and exhilaration that accompanies any competition! after all isn't art all about seeking admiration! Isn't it all about Wows, FB Likes and Comments! Well you may logically contend that art is transcendent, cathartic and spiritually uplifting: It may well be all of these, yet it can hardly be denied that all artists, deep down, seek audience and praise in the wake of it.

I have a confession to make here, throughout my artistic life I have struggled to reach a point, high and beyond in artistic terms, but where or what that point is I don't have a clue. So if I don't know where I am going, can there be any enjoyment in walking the path? Definitely yes, I would say; It is people's admiration that spurs me on, yet I've often pretended not to care about people's admiration. Now the question is why should people admire artists. Is it all about beauty? much artwork that is being praised today is anything but beautiful!  My opinion is that it has more to do with mystery than beauty. the artist is the village idiot who is being emboldened by claps and hurrahs to go and check in the cave up in the mountains simply because nobody knows what's in there.

Therefore there is this unwritten agreement between the artist and the audience for one side to bestow admiration and for the other to foolishly accept it. The artist thereby has fallen victim to his avarice for admiration. In one word the artist has morphed into a praise-thirsty biped.

Thanks to Facebook, now there has opened myriads of opportunities to win admiration from friends and strangers alike. The more likes you get, the better an artist you are. But even that does not satiate our instinctive desire for praise. How about a formal contest where artists may compete against one another, beat their way up to the championship. Then national champions can  vie for the Art World Cup in painting, for instance, or any other field. In 5 years we can have our Art Olympics. Here are a few of my suggestions for various fields of competition for painters:

1. Speed painting ( the winner is one who can create the largest painting in the shortest)
2. Jumping over easels
3. Fencing ( instead of swords artists use mahlsticks)
4. Palette cleaning ( speed matters)
5. Running uphill with all painting tools ( exclusively for landscape painters )
6. Brush throwing

As you can see the list is inexhaustible and the variety is amazing. I wonder why such competitions were not organized earlier. Possibly past artists weren't as clever as we are, or maybe not as competitive and praise hungry! It's a pity the likes of Rembrandtt, Vermeer, and Rubens did not have this opportunity to become art champions of their time!