He said so himself. I think he’s being a bit of a goof on this one, but I’ll admit, I have seen first-hand some really bad art. I’ve even made some really bad art.
I’ve also been told I’ve made some really good art, too. And some of the art in this video does look crappy. But it is installation art he’s going on about, and installation artists have a tough enough time trying to fill spaces that they deserve a little leeway.
I do agree with this statement, however:
A writer ought to be able to write simple sentences before he tries to be a poet. I want to see something traditional that a sculptor has done – something I can understand – before he gets a license to do this.
Picasso earned the right to do anything he wants. His work is art whether I think so or not.
And I think that without doing more research into the actual artists shown in the video, Andy Rooney may not have a say about which of their pieces are art and which ones aren’t. Richard Serra, for example, is a renowned American minimalist who works mostly with sheet metal. I’d say he’s famous enough for his works to be considered art whether-or-not Andy Rooney thinks so. Here’s a link to a PBS article on the controversy of the Tilted Arc piece, mentioned in the video clip. Serra is quoted as saying “I don’t think it is the function of art to be pleasing…. Art is not democratic. It is not for the people.”
If art were democratic, Michael Bay movies would be the only ones in theatres.
Rooney: When Did This Become Art?, Andy Rooney On Modern Art In Public Places – CBS News