Contemporary Art

Contemporary Art is the art going on right now; I think most people get confused and think it is Modern.  Anyways there are people still doing more formalist based art, but there has been a push back away from formalism.  The idea is now the thing of most importance to avant-garde artists.  Damien Hirst for example does no physical work to produce his art.  He has ideas, which he pays other artists to execute.  ORLAN whom I have written about before has stated that the idea is the most important thing to her in her work.  I would also say that there is something of a trend away from ownership, and more of an emphasis upon the experience.  After all you can not own ORLAN's face.  I am also thinking in particular of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and his art installation Kui Hua Zi.  In Kui Hua Zi he buried the floor of the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London with sunflower seeds.  Initially art patrons could walk on them and bury themselves in them if they wished.  The installation was meant to be a commentary on China's mass production of products done for Western countries.