Do We Take Art Too Seriously?

Hushed tones may befit the library, but as Marcus Westbury argues , quiet isn’t alway necessary to enjoy the visual or performing arts:

Art is often discussed in reverent tones , we invest in it, create daunting palaces for it. In the scale of reverence, it sits ever so slightly below death and religion. A quick look at my email in-box and you could be forgiven for thinking that art galleries are the new cathedrals, that every artist has an epic backstory, and every show needs to be hyped-up like an Oscar nominee. But is art itself really all that serious? I hope not – or at least not always. For a start, I’m not sure that all that seriousness actually helps much. The idea that seriousness is somehow a measure of value and that art needs to be treated seriously all the time is a weird one. Much of the time, people value things that make them laugh, cry, scream, think or inspired – much more than they value the worthy and the serious.

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