PragerU doesn't know ANYTHING about Art

[@Emilio1985]

I'm amused that Robert says that people need to be told what good art is. Good art, to Robert, doesn't stand on its own merits, but needs to be propped up by authority. That's... very telling about his own authoritarian leanings.

[@ambmamb8370]

eh, modern art is dogshit tho in a sense of fundamental skills in many cases you have to know the rules to break them wouldnt be surprised if some of it intentionally panders to the lowest common denominators cruelty squad is one of the few exceptions of extremely modern art i fully respect- but it also comes from a place of genuine skill

[@MitskiExceptItsMiku]

@@ambmamb8370 bro pls get ur opinion of contemporary art somewhere other than the first five images u get when u google "modern art" and nothing else. There are like hundreds of artists today you absolutely would love, like way more interesting and fun than the art PragarU peddles as "good art".

[@M_M_ODonnell]

@@MitskiExceptItsMiku ...but it's edgy and a sign of independent thought to parrot the popular opinion of people not familiar with the topic! /s

[@MitskiExceptItsMiku]

@@M_M_ODonnell lol

[@zackswitch9656]

⁠@@ambmamb8370In an age where art is accessible to almost everyone its pretty naive to generalize all modern art as bad. Maybe look deeper.

[@kryssikarpentur5996]

Your microphone is perfect. This is an objective art fact and nobody can contradict it. No notes.

[@thetato1273]

Its LEGO if you can believe it

[@kryssikarpentur5996]

@@thetato1273 Oh, I noticed! That's part of what prompted my comment. :)

[@1RandomToaster]

I must disagree, this is not an objective art fact. This is irrefutable medical science.

[@hellaradusername]

The fact that Fountain has been effortlessly angering authoritarians for over 100 years speaks to how powerful it is as a work of art.

[@arachnophilia427]

trolling is a art

[@trashtrash2169]

It's AN art. No, having no sense of spelling and grammar is not trolling. You're just stupid.

[@leoribic1691]

It's been over 100 years and it's still pissing off the same pearl-clutching conservative authoritarians now that it always has.

[@orbatos]

@@arachnophilia427 Only if it's clear you are trolling while also being a critique. e.g. sarcasm. When people can't tell it either means you're being too edgy for your own good, or you are only pretending it's a joke to backtrack at your convenience.

[@lamaglama6231]

In my country we had a guy that was rejected from art school decide what acceptable art is. It didn't end well and basically split the whole country for decades.

[@AugustRx]

sounds a lot like that guy with the moustache. Charlie Chaplin I think..

[@portalmanHUN]

Miss him yet?

[@freckleheckler6311]

@@portalmanHUNI certainly do.

[@wmurd]

oh so very cool of you measuring art by belonging to academic institutions

[@wmurd]

btw his art was even decent, so

[@Celestina0]

My biggest pet peeve as someone who’s studied aesthetics… people thinking ‘art’ means ‘good’ so any art they don’t like isn’t ‘art’, as if bad art can’t exist 🙄

[@princekyle4132]

Robert’s “worthy of being called art” thing is quite telling, isn’t it?

[@ConvincingPeople]

Regarding Bacon's paintings of the Crucifixion, if I'm recalling correctly, he did not paint his idea of the Crucifixion itself directly, but rather metaphorical figures witnessing it suffering at the sight of it, meaning to convey the agony of Christ on the cross for the sake of humanity through their agony in witnessing it. It is in many respects a deeply religious and sincere work, albeit a deeply disturbing one, which makes the reactions that many religious conservatives have to it pretty ironic to me, but then Bacon was gay and an alcoholic, so maybe that's part of their problem with him.

[@Dekkard5]

A lot of artist from back in the day also perfectly copied human anatomy for medical textbooks, mainly because cameras and x-rays didn't exist back then

[@sybilasteri5758]

And that's not mentioning the artists who studied actual human bodies, in a legal way or not (the Renassaince comes to mind)

[@Raaaah__]

@@sybilasteri5758didn’t davinci literally rob graves to learn about the human form ? i could be wrong, please feel free to correct me

[@sybilasteri5758]

@@Raaaah__ Possibly! Same with Michaelangelo

[@wmurd]

artists are still doing it fyi, yes, with cameras and stuff

[@tahlialysse]

The extension of this kind of rhetoric from "modern art is bad" to "only some people should be allowed to do art," is sorta the point, I think. When they look at a piece and think "I could do that," they then avoid doing it and rant about the thing. Meanwhile the normal human response to seeing art and thinking "I can do that,"...is to then do it. Art that inspires replication or whole new works is in conversation. But that's lost on these folks who want everyone to listen to their art despite them not even speaking.

[@sanniepstein4835]

Wrong. Criticism is a call to legal action only on the totalitarian left. Disagreement is not assault.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Only a select few can make art.

[@turtlecatpurrz]

As a low vision person, I would like to argue against Robert’s silly idea that art is only a visual experience. Has he never touched a sculpted object? Felt the silky texture of a carved and polished piece of wood, or opposite that, the roughness or texture of something made of different fabrics? I admit perhaps my understanding of bleeds into craftsmanship, but I would argue that this is simply another path art takes, and not a unique and separate discipline. I love your essay.

[@ScorpionClaws789]

You have? Not a judgemental statement, I'm just suprised they let you touch the art.

[@turtlecatpurrz]

@@ScorpionClaws789 it depends on the situation, there is an artist, Kim Cunningham who specifically makes art with the intention of folks interacting with it through touch. Pop art sculptures that are outside tend to be safe to touch because frankly, what’s my hand going to do that wind and weather won’t do worse and faster. Also, many museums will allow a blind patron to touch some pieces wearing protective gloves. Edit: Not Kim, Ann Cunningham

[@reginaldforthright805]

If you had ever visited a museum, you’d know that you’re not allowed to touch the sculpture for obvious reasons.

[@vdubdesigns6530]

How people like Robert think about art reminds me a bit of how I thought about art as a child. I had very little experience of art being anything more than a show of talent and realism, but as I grew older and gained experience/experimented with art more I started to see more of what it is/can be. Now as an adult I see art as a vessel for the person making it. Whether someone uses it purely for fun or to express a message/purpose doesn't matter because either way, it IS art. PragerU is seeing art as something that must be policed and meet a standard, not as an extension of the person making it.

[@cassieisnothere]

They also see the person themself as somebody who must be policed and meet a standard so,, that tracks

[@zarahchristensen1147]

The ironic thing about your comment is that the contemporary art world is highly policed. Only ‘artists’ who follow a particular ideological dogma will be accepted into the highest echelons. The people involved in that group are actually some of the most capitalistic, greedy, elitist authoritarians in our society today. This is why people (of all different political beliefs) are growing weary of it. So called ‘modern art’ is breathing its last dying breaths. It’s time to think for ourselves and think deeply about our own philosophies and aesthetics, rather than just agreeing with what is shoved down our throats in elitist institutions.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Prayer U is right. Art has standards, just like music and literature. You wouldn’t go to a concert where everything was out of tune and off beat, and you wouldnt read a novel filled with misspellings, grammatical errors, and nonsensical plots.

[@insomniaaaaa4813]

even prageru recognises the social power of art, otherwise they wouldnt want it censored

[@princekyle4132]

“We love art, just only when it’s made by white people and it looks pretty”

[@sanniepstein4835]

Prager has never called for censorship. If people are not forced to subsidize you, sorry, that does not constitute censorship.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Of course it has social power. That’s why it should reinforce healthy norms.

[@iskraiskra_9007]

prageru is literally "BACK IN MY DAYS" humanized, eugh

[@TonatiuhMorenoGed]

Ah, ha ha! Spot on!

[@dracocrusher]

Makes way too much sense that conservative fascist-adjacent propaganda would just be a bunch of Boomers shitting on new stuff.

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@dracocrushersince everything is degenerating, it only makes sense that the older generations have a greater knowledge of aesthetics and the proper way to live.

[@dracocrusher]

@@reginaldforthright805 You mean back when the AIDS crisis was at its peak and we put lead paint on everything? Or did you mean back when they were paying off doctors to say cigarettes are healthy and advertising them to kids?

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@dracocrusher on balance things were much better, a few missteps aside.

[@gabrielbruce1977]

I was wondering if Fountain was going to be mentioned. And I'd like to add- A lot of Duchamp's "readymades" were things he built himself, deliberately, to be so close to the actual shape of the object they represented that people would fail to notice the details that gave them away as NOT that object. Duchamp was laughing at his critics and his audience every time he made something out of sheer spite. That 100% includes Fountain- he was a capable ceramicist and probably put that together himself. And to this day people claim he simply ripped an existing urinal off of the wall and signed it.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Makes no difference, it’s still trash.

[@The-Garden-Library]

i found your channel just before this video, so about an hour ago. and im not sure how but i just instinctively knew you were a fellow artist, you just have that wonderful artsy aura

[@SketchUT]

Same here!!

[@genericbeansmile756]

I think your examples from throughout the video were good, especially the ways you cited points which may have been taken out of context by Robert in his series. My one piece of constructive criticism would be that you may want to consider putting more of the art that you are talking about on screen, which would have been especially helpful for the trilogy of paintings you talk about when dissecting color palettes. Good critical thinking and structure.

[@kc8391]

(still haven't finished the video) There's always been some phrases that have stuck to me about art, from the art teachers I've had. "Humans have the innate need to make art." "Art is an expression of humanity." "Art is born perfect." I think they go very well together, and it's something many people need to hear. Art has no rules, art just is. You can't say something isn't art when someone describes it at such. Whether it's good art, that's a different matter, and many people conflate the two (personally, I judge art based on if it achieves what it sets out to do). After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also, the way these people talk is very dubious; they'd have a heart attack if they saw non-eurocentric art, god forbid people depict other experiences and cultures!

[@kc8391]

Also thank you for talking about Yoko Ono, even briefly. She's been overshadowed by John Lennon for so long, so many people only know her music (insulting it) and insult her for "breaking up the beatles". So much misogyny.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Hippie nonsense

[@kc8391]

@@reginaldforthright805 skibidi nonsense

[@frankenfurterr3432]

sheesh i can imagine living like this guy 💀 im an artist as well, its weird to hear his views on what he deems “good”, he sounds like a eugenicist tbh 🤧 love your commentary! just subbed ❤

[@princekyle4132]

He probably is a eugenicist. Dude painted the Egyptians as white 💀

[@TheEnmineer]

Conveniently eugenics wouldn't be seen in a negative light by them, just so long as they were near the top.

[@reginaldforthright805]

You know aborting Down’s syndrome babies is literally eugenics right

[@toosleebee]

I just found your channel and can I just say I love your microphone, so creative!

[@agreeableWitch]

I'm not really an "art person," like I enjoy it but I don't know much about it, so I appreciate prageru u making you look into these cool modern pieces so you could tell me about them :D On a less lighthearted note. It is disturbing that their opinions on art are so blatantly fascist even I can see it. A deep commitment to removing anything not "beautiful" feels very threatening when you know they feel the same about actual human people.

[@sanniepstein4835]

Criticism is not fascism. Stop being so soft.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Is fascism bad?

[@mariag.336]

Funnily enough, Stalin and the USSR set laws about what art was allowed to be created. It had to be realist, representative, and positive. The pieces from this time were happy workers and children happily surrounding Stalin. What PragerU proposes is essentially the same thing, except I’m sure they’d hate any association with Stalin

[@acciaacilius6875]

Only difference is instead of paintings of happy workers they want paintings of happy landlords.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Stalin wasnt all bad i guess

[@CodeNameX001]

Robert spends so much time lauding classical pieces, I bet he'd lose his sh*t if he saw "Etant Donnes".

[@TheHunterGracchus]

Or "L'Origine du monde".

[@no_]

I've been binge-watching CJ the x videos and he very frequently brings up miraculous ladybug for little to no reason so at 1:04 hearing you say "if you don't know miraculous-" almost made my heart stop

[@mariosportsmaster7662]

Prager U's art criticism matches a lot with the ramblings about "modern art" by Nazis and other 20th century fascists in the 1920s and 30s.

[@arachnophilia427]

well, yeah. modernism has been out of fashion since like 1970. the fact that they're railing against modernism is a dead giveaway that they're borrowing from nazis.

[@jaxwarp8373]

Hmm wonder why that could be 🤔

[@sanniepstein4835]

God progs are so predictable. Everyone who disagrees with you is a National Socialist. We've heard it for years. Find something fresh, please.

[@Groovemaster10000]

Sad that he can't even see the artistry in his own apron. It might be ridiculous to compare it to a Pollock, but the apron itself bearing the marks of however many years of painting is itself a very interesting and meaningful piece of art with a story to tell.

[@davejacob5208]

why no talk about the fact that artists outside europe and america after the year 1500 exist(ed) ?

[@chubphd]

cuz they didn’t, get rekt, gg no rere

[@reginaldforthright805]

They did, but they weren’t any good. Seriously. Besides a few Japanese woodblock artists who are just ok.

[@davejacob5208]

@@reginaldforthright805 k, so whatever westerners dont regard as "good" is not "good", got it. must be why art in the west has constantly changed what it regards as good art...

[@Leskhat]

I didn't realise I was watching a video from a relatively small channel before you mentioned it at the end, so congrats on the quality of your videos !

[@endless2239]

he should have compared Bernini's the ecstasy of saint Teresa, to maccarthy's "tree"; the shapes, the contours, there's something about those two that *FITs* better IMHO, but I'm not an artist, just a connoisseur Edit: holy, he consider all expressionism art as not real art XD on another note: I find the concept of ready-made art.... reminiscent of the modern discussion on AI art.

[@orbatos]

As you inferred, this PregarU video is yet another thinly veiled dog whistle for arguments of the degeneracy and downfall of civilization, e.g. fascist rhetoric. Good coverage.

[@someguy79]

^

[@ChrisisComics]

Rethoric can not be fascistic. In itself rethoric is a tool of persuasion & facism is a tool of violence. Violent persuasion is not a thing, that's called duress, threat or Abuse. Thereby as defined many moons ago, rethoric can not be fascistic. And by simply referring to their ulterior motive as "fascist" you are ironically rendering your own argument fascistic, cause that would make modern art nothing but dog whistles of the degeneracy of the classical era and the downfall of the planet, expressed by lack of coping with the modern stress levels. Parger U is modern Art, wether you like it or not.

[@arachnophilia427]

the fact that they're against MODERNISM, a movement that's been dead for half a century, should be a big hint that they're just copying nazi talking points from a century ago.

[@dracocrusher]

I know people think this is a hot take but I mean.... It's not even wrong, though...??? Prager U and conservatism overall just ARE fascist when you get right down to it. To anyone who disagrees with this, stop and think about it for a minute. Take all the aesthetic stuff about Nazi uniforms and swastikas off the table. If you talked to a modern Nazi straight from the third Reich about modern stuff, then where exactly do you think they'd disagree with modern conservatism? Because the more you really dig into that, the worse the comparison looks for the modern American right......

[@WayneBraack]

When you speak in generalities like this you only show how unthoughtful and uninformed you really are. Blanket statements are never true. Never.

[@CodeNameX001]

I like to argue that collage work in Dadaism is a reclamation of photography as a visual art, after industrialization saw the bastardization of photography for the advertisement. By deconstructing adverts, they reclaim the artistic integrity. At least, that how I see it.

[@lemonlime5435]

I did drop out of my 2D program because of mental health reasons, but I did take 4 semesters of art history! Would love to hear about your perspective on artists like Picasso. It was/is a struggle to balance the cultural value of his work with, in my humble opinion, how terrible of a person he was. I can’t see Picasso’s works without thinking of the hell this man put himself and his wives through. A specific example, but it’s a fascinating subject to me. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I didn’t know how to ‘get’ or appreciate Georgia O’Keefe’s works until I learned more about her life story, and now I find I really enjoy seeing her creations. It’s almost upsetting to find that I struggled to find that ‘appreciation’ in the first place. You did mention the importance of context in this video, but it makes me so curious about how one’s view of art can be influenced by a projection of ‘connection’ to the artist themselves. Is that a silly thing to do? Almost para-socially appreciating art more or less due to one’s opinion of them as a human being? I always feel uncomfortable at the thought that I may do this unintentionally, and it gives me a lot more anxiety than it probably should. What if I accidentally overlook an artist I might really admire if I had known more about them? Should that even really matter? I literally get stressed out at the thought of walking through an art museum. There’s so much more information I would want and may not realistically get, and worry that I may not fully appreciate something as it is right in front of me. Or maybe I just think too much! Probably, but who knows!!

[@klaratehcoolcat]

True or not, Picasso being a terrible person or not, the legend of the Nazi soldier who breaks into Picasso's studio, sees 'Guernica,' (the painting depicting the nazi air force's bombing of the titular small spanish village), then points at it to demand of the artist, "Did you do this?" to be told, "No, you did." ....Is too fucking good of a story.

[@lemonlime5435]

@@klaratehcoolcat yooo, I had not heard of that tale! That is kinda metal fs 🔥 I know humans are complex creatures. I’ve got a narcissistic grandfather, and I struggle with my feelings about him too! Lol, many many horrible actions along with many not horrible or even good ones. Fascinating to figure out what matters to you, the observer! I struggle with considering my own value, with a similar a dichotomy of thoughts/actions I am proud and not so proud of, I just wonder at what level is it appropriate for one set a boundary with, or not engage with someone (personally or not personally, like a friend/coworker/public figure/artist) who does things that cause real harm to others. Ahhh ethics, and internal narratives! That stuff stresses me out a lot too!

[@amulaluinloth4867]

I really enjoyed this video! It was interesting and I got to learn about more art. However, I think you need to turn the volume of your mic up when editing, you were pretty quiet for me and the clips you showed were also pretty quiet.

[@JInuOneSix]

Dada and its spiritual successor Meme Culture are so much fun to study

[@dracocrusher]

Figure skating might be the worst comparison he could have used because the state of the sport right now is all about landing extremely specific tricks, mainly four-spin jumps, or Quads, which gain extra points for their difficulty. However this has created a meta where every competitive skater has to work in Quads to compete at the highest levels, with an incredibly dangerous technique for this being way more doable for people with low weights. This has all lead to competitions where all the viable contestents in women's figure skating are teenage girls who are still light enough to do multiple Quads per routine, which ruins their legs and spine long-term while also forcing them on a rough diet that gives many of them eating disorders. As you'd expect, all of this leads to a pretty short career, too, with lots of psychological trauma. So in the search of objectively scoring the most difficult and technical moves in a routine, we've ended up with an industry that screws over disposable teenage champions that all bust out the same basic routine over and over again because it's the highest scoring setup possible, making it the most effective thing to do. This man CHOSE to compare what he wants art to be to this. He WANTED this comparison to happen! At this point, giving bonus points to someone breaking convention by just throwing themself across the ice would be a good thing! That's how bad crap is!

[@reginaldforthright805]

Nonetheless, art badly needs standards. Modern and post-modern art is a sham and everyone knows it.

[@dracocrusher]

@@reginaldforthright805 This is unironically just what the Nazis thought. They didn't care about artistic intent, they just wanted things to fit the 'German aesthetic', and anything different or challenging was labeled as "Degenerate Art". Jacob Geller has a fantastic video on this that everyone should watch called "Whose Afraid of Modern Art", about a simple post-modernist painting that invoked feelings so strong it was attacked with a boxcutter.

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@dracocrusher no one listens to atonal music or reads Dadaist poetry, but somehow the modern art scam has taken root. Perhaps that’s because city dwellers have been inured to visual ugliness by the squalor of their surroundings. Nonetheless the emperor has no clothes.

[@dracocrusher]

@@reginaldforthright805 Literally just found an atonal playlist. It took no effort, first video has barely any dislikes to around 1,000 likes, and it's sitting at 178k views. There's multiple others like it. It doesn't matter that it's not 'proper'. The purpose of art isn't to fit your standards, it's to fill the role people have for it. Some people find this interesting, others just like the weird vibe. Who are you to say they're wrong for that?

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@dracocrusher by no one I mean only a few people. Of course I think all these things are fine to exist, even though they’re mostly trash, or, at best, wallpaper. They just shouldn’t have the amount of social currency and financial backing that they do.

[@baht8580]

Anyone using words like “rules” when critiquing art doesn’t actually understand what art is. In the mind of someone like him art should only exist as a self indulgent display of technical skill and prowess rather than genuine creative expression.

[@HaloGirl67]

this video is amazing. so well-written. I'm so inspired!!!

[@ZadenZane]

Classical portraiture does live on in contemporary photography. Annie Leibowitz's formal portraits remind me a lot of old master paintings.

[@spencercurtis898]

great video! tbh the thing that really gets me is the prager vids just. have an inherent appeal to authority- things need to be Okayed and Official, which tracks for their political stances. thanks for the analysis! edit: i was about to say that the prager vid sounds like the guy has never actually met an artist or studied it, but then he said that not going to museums or buying things from galleries would do anything so that just confirmed it.

[@TWINS-pw1pg]

Although I would not call myself an artist, I really like painting, drawing as well as analyzing art. These people infuriate me, they are one step before starting classifying what constitutes "devient art" nazi style.

[@sanniepstein4835]

Not everyone who disagrees with you is a National Socialist. That is such a stupid and overused accusation.

[@thendsufi]

The line that always gets me every time I hear it is when Robert says “artists enriched WESTERN society.” I still don’t know what that means and I’ve watched that video a million times. Is he implying that non-Western art is bad or inferior? Is he saying that the west are the only ones who created works that fit his definition of art? Is he saying that no one outside the west is capable of creating works that appeal to western audiences? I literally have no idea what he means by that. Granted, my background is based more in music, poetry and photography than painting and sculpting, so I don’t have much room to critique him, but that line has never made any sense. The only reason I’ve come up with for why he said that is he was simply pandering to PragerU’s predominantly white nationalist audience who thinks “the west did everything bruh” and nobody else in the world ever did anything until we, the benevolent white saviors came in and civilized them. What a joke. And I agree with your assessment: even in elementary school, I was taught that artists were basically STORYTELLERS. They valued aesthetics to some extent, but tge priority was telling a story.

[@PixelHead777]

The things PragerU fundamentally does not understand could fill the library Dennis pretends he's read.

[@stikcler]

Prager "U" doesn't know anything about ANYTHING.

[@barnabasrsnags4828]

They know what they want... ( not that they know how to get it )

[@skidart9063]

It's like saying classical music is the only music that matters.

[@freckleheckler6311]

Apples and oranges. What a horrible attempt at an analogy..

[@harvestedvoltage4324]

@@freckleheckler6311can you clarify?

[@skidart9063]

@@freckleheckler6311 boo hoo

[@reginaldforthright805]

Try listening to atonal music and see how long you can stand it.

[@Dracula302]

I follow you now, I think the way you explain is not only visually and audibly pleasing, I also think that it's exeptionaly easy to understand, thank you for putting so much work into these video.

[@begaydocrime5719]

Fun fact: Fountain as a work of art most likely wasn't created by Duchamp, but by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, and he took the credit for it later on.

[@mr.pavone9719]

They want their art to be produced by craftsmen, as if it were furniture.

[@worthythaneofross3925]

Ok not that he’s right about anything else but his understanding of the term “visual medium” is so asinine I had to pause and write this. Art being visual doesn’t mean that the aesthetic quality is secondary to how it makes you think - it means that it makes you think through/about the visuals.

[@suyangsong]

this guy man, shows a _Francis Bacon_ painting and is like, "garish and unsavory". _Have you perhaps considered that, that is the POINT, good sir._

[@nicholasleonardbookedits-si9ng]

Via strange evolution, Art begins like finding where the pretty comet crashed. We want to watch it glow and fly again; into the stars to try and put it back. How could an ape acquire eye and ear? to love the music fingers can produce. But now misplaced to 9 to 5 careers, the question’s lost in shopping plaza blues. Oh like the woe of taking down a reef; somehow this magic holiday has passed. No renaissance will come again it seems unless we grant the brush to bring it back. We’ve had this power since our species’ birth; expressive like no other thing of Earth.

[@cb778]

this is a great video. its so obvious that he really doesn't know what he's talking about and misses the whole point of art its actually like hilarious. u can tell he really trys to manipulate his audience to push this conservative view on art and politics but if u have a basic understanding on art history u know he's talking stupid. he's giving out useless information.

[@phillylifer]

I enjoy that the card that itemizes the "profound ... " is just like a For Sale placard.

[@rachelmilio6578]

Such a great video! I subscribed, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you make!

[@KL0098]

10:20 A bizarre slam on "white guy", considering that both the Academics and the impressionists were predominantly white men.

[@edayavuz1667]

An apron can be a piece of art! That's the beauty of it. You look at it and then you think abt it and try to guess what's supposed to be expressed by it. Btw I rly like ur mic and u give yourself less credit than what you deserve your edits are rly funny

[@gremlinfriend6956]

Someone has to make the pattern! Someone’s drawn and created the fabric! Someone had to put it together! Aprons are art

[@zigzag8392]

I would like to show this prager-hole a slideshow of all the paintings of monks and nuns getting it on. They’re beautiful! Lol.

[@foragegrasspause2gotoloop961]

This guy corners people at parties, and gets increasingly frustrated as they look around fur a way to excuse themselves. I have determined this using objective principles

[@starshark3450]

I've seen a million Prager U takedowns (because they're a bunch of morons). But this one really stands out, because you give a great lesson in art and art technique. My wife is an artist, and I really think she would get a lot from this, even though she has no interest in takedown videos or Prager U (just one of the reasons why I married her). Thanks so much for this, I look forward to more of your work.

[@starshark3450]

Also, just incredible that Florist or w/e his god-damned name is, is basically calling for a modern art boycott. Just incredibly delusional. He clearly has no idea how to turn his hatred into meaningful action, because there is no way that would have any real impact on the art world. Imagine if you're trying to hide your loot "I need something I can plausibly buy at an insanely inflated price - oh, better not buy THAT work, it doesn't fit the Golden Mean at all!" He is obviously flailing, and it's hilarious to watch.

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@starshark3450at least you admit modern art is a money laundering scheme.

[@perdasche]

damn, i feel like your video really made me change my view on things. i used to not really enjoy the paint splatters and more abstract pieces because, as embarrasing as this feels to admit now, i felt they were lazy. but i feel like through watching this i found a new value to them, and can appreciate them as what they are, art. thanks for the video :-)

[@debgenerate]

Francis Bacon is one of my favorite artists and I'm sorry you were introduced to him through a PragerU video

[@looselytelling]

Same, have you seen a Bacon in person? I stood infront of figure study 2 (1945) for half an hour just taking it all in. Love his work

[@begaydocrime5719]

by the way, i looked at some of caillebotte's paintings in person and it's fascinating how much detail was put into some parts, and how some of his pieces, if you stand at the right distance, suddenly feel extremely realistic, and then, just by shifting in place, you can suddenly see it for what it is, a mere impression. I fucking love impressionism.

[@just1humanbeing723]

I usually don't comment, but I just wanted to say, that I find your videos wonderful. The pacing and the presented information are both really nice and it boggles my mind that you don't have way more subscribers. Anyways I also wanna say, that i find it amazing how accessible art has become and how many different ways to present it there are nowadays. From what i remember, a lot of these new art movements stemmed from the invention of photography. Suddenly you could produce realistic pictures without needing a painter, which is why impressionistic painters started capturing feelings and moods in their illustrations. The art world expanded and it keeps expanding and that's incredible in my opinion. Anyways, I'm totally rambling and I'm not even sure whether all of this is relevant, but great video

[@mossselkie7438]

There’s so much i hate about the prager u art history videos, (i have an associates in art history, a minor in art history, and a bfa in illustration, just for my own background) but the thing that gets me THE MOST is him dropping like. art terms and definitions and they’re all WRONG. “composition is the placement of objects” is. the most basic way to define that. composition is about keeping the viewer’s attention and eye drawn to where you want it to go. robert clearly doesn’t actually understand why both images he shows have the composition the way they do. it drives me nuts to see someone passing themselves off as an “expert” when they can’t even pass muster on the bare basics lol. i’m not an expert by any means, but i have more experience than the average person, and all i can tell you is robert doesnt know *anything*

[@ziddeca]

that was amazing!! i really enjoyed the analysis you provided. More videos on "why modern art is actually good" would be nice!!

[@Amphibian42]

This is such a great channel, very friendly and welcoming little corner of youtube with a lotbof knowledge and character :3

[@ryeboflayvin]

francis bacon is my fav painter of all time and to see this weirdass guy dog on it in such a hand waving way gave me an aneurysm

[@Neon_trashman]

You know I used to think Gerard way was exaggerating how art will be taken for granted in the apocalypse in favor of prestige for self expression; nope! He definitely wasn’t exaggerating. What the hell is PragerUs theories???

[@kaheivi]

my dad made me watch the prager u vid after i said i liked abstract/dada art and it was so funny. there was this painting i saw at LACMA called “Leda”. it was an abstract painting with bold colors and you had to really focus your eyes to see what exactly was happening. it really resonated with me because it was the essence of chaos as Leda was literally being r^ped by Zeus in swan form. i looked up other paintings depicting this same myth and they were all so classically beautiful. Leda had a blank almost pleasant expression on her face while being r^ped and it was so creepy. abstract art has so much depth to it and is really great at capturing certain emotions. to say art should only be literal is such a simple minded take.

[@kaheivi]

+ also i rly like this art history style of vids. it’s very much enticing me to fall back into my special interest of art eras 😹

[@IAmNotAWoodenDuck]

I grew up among people who were the opposite of this. They loved modern art and thought that people who loved classic art were just not educated enough to understand what REAL art was. They were very unwilling to let others into their little club and I hated modern art as a result. Once I was able to learn more about specific pieces and hear the explanations or reasons behind them without someone scoffing at me and telling me that if I "couldn't understand without explanation, I clearly wasn't smart enough to appreciate it," I started appreciating it a lot more. I think it's interesting that they talked exactly the same as these Prager U people. They even looked the same. They voted for our equivalent to the Republican party. It's strange how in such a short time (I grew up in the 90s/00s) the people in question changed from "modern art is the only art and if you believe in God you must believe in Santa too" faux-intellectuals to "reject modernity, embrace tradition and God had a point actually" without ever changing their behaviour or the way they speak to people.

[@uboa8060]

This just tells me people should judge each piece by it's own merits, lmao. I don't know why some people don't get it. Some modern art is lazy, some classical art is boring, but there's things in both that do make you think and that's the point. And yet, no one seems to talk about the styles in-between those two specific styles and times.

[@meaninglez100]

Seeing this dude dissect art into a checklist of do's and don'ts is giving me an ulcer

[@peachsoda8701]

PLEASE post your notes from your classes ! i am getting more into art history and would love to read through them !

[@j-skullz]

This guy is like listening to a 5-year-old talk about art "I don't like it because it's not pretty I think it's ugly >:(" really shows how reductive and lacking in critical thinking all these people are honestly and how boldly they show themselves as such. Grow up, Robert.

[@Jomashi]

This is your second video that I've watched and I think you're doing a really good job. Great essay! (also I love your microphone🥰)

[@EmyrianMusic]

I really hope you keep making video essays. Excellent video!

[@GS-vb3zn]

Bravo. Very well done. Take down of the infamous Prager U anti-Art videos are always welcome. Glad your channel found me.

[@moonxliqht]

ur analysis is so amazing and i love the way you put these thoughts into words! also ur a lot calmer than id be lol, i haven't even taken that many art classes and i want to call robert a two year old

[@thisurldoesnotexist]

Robert is so afraid of enjoying something "bad." Thought policing is poison

[@selladore4911]

this gives the same vibes as those people who say there is such a thing as objective personal beauty. /truerateme vibes

[@thj_5046]

when you said that there is people making the art robert wants to see i remembered literally following someone on insta that 1. does repaints of classical paintings but as fanart 2. paints their own characters in that style. and i didnt even have to sell my soul to find them.

[@robbiej2734]

It seems like, in his opinion, art shouldn't have meaning and shouldn't be used to express anything. Basically, art's sole purpose should be decoration, which is a pretty sad way of viewing art.

[@erinthesystem9608]

The "trick" that professor played on his students is silly in part because there is an actual color scheme being expressed in the "random" paint left on his smock. ..I once used all the paint scraped from a palette as though these were sticky little colorforms, with all sorts of textures, and reassembled these (w/some gesso) on a small canvas. The resulting piece, 'Landfill,' is very small but it's one of my favorite (and more innovative) paintings to date. I didn't have to choose a color scheme- it was already there, on the palette. If this guy is an art professor, he's not very inspiring. 😐

[@Rimmy45]

8:12 oh wowee I didn't know Jeremy Clarkson, May and Hammond had a hand in Art in the Middle Ages Lovely video already, I put it in watch later and said nah I will watch it NOW, will finish it now keep up the good work

[@Mikae1300]

This is a REALLY good essay. You did a great job! I really appreciate you talking about each example piece, discussing the idea behind them, and also the artist. I remember when I first started taking art history classes in university a thousand years ago, and it just blew my mind how understanding the context behind art pieces changes how you look and think about them. Art is truly one the greatest aspects of humanity. Robert Florczak and PragerU's views on art are sadly rooted in fascist ideology. Fascists will always seek to either completely remove art from society, or control it to the point where no meaning can be communicated. Art is dangerous to fascism, and it's why the German nazis destroyed what they considered "degenerate" art, and killed or controlled artists. Keep fighting against these limiting fascists ideas. Let art flourish~

[@solutanbrun]

Wonderful video! Subscribed! And I really love your microphone ❤ Have you seen Jacob Geller’s video on modern art and fascism? It was really eye-opening for me, and it made me look for more videos on modern art - hence why I’m here. I love listening to people talk about subjects they’re passionate about. It gives me a deep hope for human kind.

[@Katiethewizard]

Do they even check to make sure that they aren't using the exact same talking points as literal nazis during world war 2. Hitler despised modern art and impressionists specifically, to the point where they were given their own "degenerate art" exhibition. Classical sculpture and painting was one of the pinnacle achievements of a white, aryan society in his eyes, which is why he obsessively collected renaissance works from countries he'd invaded. Modern art was new, different, and didn't place replication and beauty above all else, which the nazis thought was a sign pointing to the degradation of society as a whole.

[@ChrisisComics]

considering all this, minus the social ineptitude of their behavior and torture, would you say that their point here was of base`? Wouldnt you say, Art that requires more focus and less impulse makes for a better enviroment?

[@looselytelling]

They said everything other than the word degenerate. Also in before someone makes the cliche Stalin argument

[@lizardwomanfromearthscore]

Damn. I wanted to make a video where I used one of my lego flowers as a fake mic. Now I won't be original. 😢

[@humanthetooth]

yooo great video. Love discovering new smaller channels before they blow up. Youre on your way!

[@FreshBread699]

Would love if you posted your class notes! Really into art history and would love to get a look into a formal education of it.

[@mountpennart]

Nicely done!! Glad I found your channel.

[@erica-be4rl]

Loved the video, especially the part on art analysis!! Would love to hear more about art history and analysis within commentary vids :)

[@punknomad7995]

Heya, I’m an artist, and I love this. I learned a lot about art history. Keep up the great work

[@Ailun__]

“I really yam” fuck you for how hard that made me laugh. I know next to nothing about art but the video was still really interesting, good work

[@zoeboey]

LOVE the video!! so well worded and argued and honestly i feel learned now hahah. so excited to watch more :D

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

PragerU doesn't know ANYTHING about ANYTHING.

[@selladore4911]

20:49 by this logic prageru's own color palette is unskillful

[@moresnqp]

im so glad youtube started recommending me smaller videos

[@ka_okai9]

Imagine Robert taking your advice and just going to The Boulder and walking down there... taking a risk... and he just feels it.. and it all clicks.. 🎉🎉🎉

[@avedic]

If only. But never gonna happen. These kind of people appreciate art for reasons having to do with....class, economic value, perceived social hierarchy, and strict narrow definitions of "culture." Things like emotional depth, catharsis, honesty, darkness, the subconscious, etc etc....go right over their heads, and so art that addresses such things makes no sense to them. It's the same reason so many conservatives seem literally incapable of perceiving _irony._ They seem objectively blind to it.

[@Demosophist]

Shakespeare's penultimate play, *The Winter's Tale*, besides being a story about redemption is also a story about the transition to "modern art" which he could see coming. The key to the story is that art had become so lifelike that you could represent a real person as an art piece and then have her come to life as a kind of practical joke. This is a commentary on envy, and while the job of an artist was to reproduce the exterior world there was actually some kind of metric by which you could just relative skill. But he could see that after this achievement art would have to become more abstract, and the mimetic competition between visual artists would because more intense because there was no longer a well understood exterior metric. This was the transition to "the interior landscape* as Marshall McLuhan called it, and led to "the grandiose tragedy of modern art". You seem to not know much about this, so perhaps you should read René Girard, and particularly his discussion of *The Winter's Tale* in his book *Theater of Envy*.

[@tinabean713]

Are these students he's referring to freshmen/sophomores fulfilling a core-curriculum elective requirement? I only took one art history class, just for that purpose, and it was a survey covering up to I forget which century - so mostly covering antiquity - but I immediately though that did not look like a Pollack and wondered if it was way zoomed in, and so yes, you knew it was a gotcha before he revealed his lame gotcha. It totally seemed like a cranky professor dropping a reality bomb week one on his new freshman and feeling smug about himself. Luckily I didn't have too many of those (but was a contributing factor to dropping out of Architecture 6 weeks in).

[@russelljackson2818]

Great video! I want to throw this in the mix as well: regarding "The Holy Virgin Mary," the criticism of the use of dung specifically gives the game away that PragerU's selected chud is working with a deliberately limited conception of art, confined to Eurocentric standards. Dung has been used in several art traditions in Africa for longer than we can know, such as Imigongo in Rwanda, where it's mixed with ash to help sterilize it before adding pigment and using it to paint. Chris Ofili, in fact, stated that the inspiration for the painting came from a visit to Zimbabwe, where he would have encountered traditions of this kind. The use of dung wouldn't be seen in this cultural context as insulting. Of course, Robert here either clearly doesn't care to try to learn any of that, or is fine with pretending he's never heard it.

[@SashaS-s2z]

Speaking of ready-mades. There is a similar category of techniques, involving molding and casting of real objects. For example, if I make a copy of my own hand in bronze, Robert will probably praise it for its realistic perfection. Going further with the same idea (and borrowing thoughts from how intellectual property treats various methods of copying), a replica made by hand - like drawing from reference, or hand-carving a perfectly precise (as Robert so loves!) copy of an existing object - will be the same as making a copy through industrial methods. Becoming a perfect copy-machine might be art, but only one very specific side of it.

[@sananaryon4061]

there's a painting I like, Albertine In The Police Doctor's Office by Christian Krohg, which I think that the pragerU guy would love for the visual and then dismiss the second he learns about the context and meaning of it. the work is heavily critical of the draconian prostitution laws in Norway at the time, and was based on a novel that was banned for that very reason