What if all of the art in the world was destroyed?

What if all of the art in the world was destroyed?  Everything lost… gone are the paintings, the music, the sculptures, the films, the photos, the plays the dances… the collections gone.

What would that mean?  I sort of got on this idea on one of my daily, man vs. environment mind numbing sequences. Because of course, without a proper functioning environment it will be increasingly difficult to sustain human life… I realize some people don’t get that concept, and then I got thinking about art, and how art is one of those left wing commie pinko causes much like caring for the planet that sustains your life.  So what if Art just one day up and disappeared, we wake up and it’s all gone?  Dare I suggest this could actually be an interesting turn of events?  All of the artists out there would suddenly have a purpose… they could create things people need without having to worry about appearing to pay homage to one of the great artists that came before them… for a moment there would be no genres, and there might be a time, a brief period, where art might truly be appreciated.

When the forest is gone and there are no trees, and the only seeds left are mutant corn plants, and the soil has eroded into the sea, you won’t just be able to create a new forest, you will just be heat baked on barren land free of water and shade.  But if art was gone, it would give way to human ingenuity and a wild period of abundant creativity might exist… perhaps some would be put to work rehashing great works from memory, or is that even part of the scenario… I guess I need to define they hypothetical scenario… maybe you should just do that if you want to play the game in your own mind.

Now I don’t mean to suggest all the art ever made is meaningless, but more the idea on how rapidly artists of the world if given a chance could repopulate the world art supply, and I bet you they could do a damn good job.  I think art often falls prey to “human hype disorder”, as I call it, some believe that the classics are the classics and that’s all that matters, others believe that the latest is the greatest, some will only sip certain styles, others rue rubbish refusing to recognize it as art…  How bout a blank slate, an open filed… millions of artists lined up at the starting line and the pistol fires… what do you have for me tiger?  Probably wouldn’t be quite like that, but in some ways, despite the loss it might be not be the worst thing ever.

Imagine there was no music online or anywhere, how many new songs would be posted on day one, week one, and month one… one might create a major “art economy”, whatever the hell that means.  On paper it seems like one couldn’t create such a diverse filed, but it would be interesting to see the human art spirit react to a scenario like this.  I wonder what would really soar if people had nothing and then choices pouring in, how would entrepreneurs position themselves to help direct and divert the flow of this newfound art to the right places?  It would probably be smarter (human term synonymous with making more money) to not do art but invest in online art distribution.  Funny how even in a light hearted wondering exercise we teeter on the brink of talking about advertising.

Competition is a great motivator in art. I remember posting on the wall of the shockcenter “we are required by special pact to inspire each other with displays of productivity”.

I saw something a while back and I believe it was C.K. Louis talking about George Carlin, and how George taught him that every year he just comes up with new jokes rather than telling the same jokes over and over.  He started doing it, and clearly it worked for him, cause if what’s gone is gone then there is only the new beginning.

What about teaching Art?  Could you teach art if there was no Art? Perhaps it might be better to teach art… you could focus on teaching what you need to do rather than confuse the student with all of the history that came before.

If we had to re-create art is it possible that human priorities might change, teaching us something about losing things, leading to a more caring balanced society? 

just thinking