George Tatakis

Controversial opinion:

The public is right to distrust a lot of contemporary art.

Yes, really.

There is plenty of work hiding behind pretentious explanations, where confusion is mistaken for intelligence and obscurity for depth.

But the public’s favourite response is still a terrible argument:

“I could do that.”

Could you?

A child can draw a square.

A drunk man can spill paint.

AI can generate endless abstract images in seconds.

That proves nothing.

Art is not a competition of visible effort.

Some technically astonishing works are completely lifeless.

Some brutally simple works changed art history.

The real question is not:

“Could I make something that looks like this?”

It’s:

“Could I have arrived there out of necessity?”

That’s where the conversation becomes uncomfortable.

I wrote a full article exploring why abstract and contemporary art make people so angry, and why some of that anger is actually justified.

Curious where you stand.

https://www.tatakis.com/post/is-this-art-i-could-do-that-abstract-art

“Film makes you better” is one of the most comfortable lies in photography.

It replaces thinking with limitation.

Digital does the opposite.

Full argument:
https://www.tatakis.com/post/digital-vs-film-photography

Easter Tuesday in Olympos, on the island of Karpathos, Greece