Yet what they best represent is the current state of art, where artists must skillfully package themselves as products for buyers to consume.
It’s precisely the kind of work that is uncomfortable for most artists, who by definition concern themselves with what it means to be a person in the world, not what it means to be a brand.
The prescriptive forms of the art world, as in the real world, alienate us from ourselves and our neighbors. It’s normal to make art. This is a manifest truth that is obscured by the institutional imperative to contain and monopolize awe.
“You should never ask an artist about their art,” Maurizio Cattelan said, immediately on arrival. “The best art raises lots and lots of questions,” he added. “Not answers.”