Interview'd

"A lot of this is the big con going on today in the name of "art." Pure junk. That which we see in the museums and which I hear being defended all the time. If you call it by its rightful name, junk, you're looked down upon as being a peasant. I'll tell you what is happening - the artist in films, sculpture or painting is telling you to accept his mumblings. If I decided to go through one whole day of my life mumbling incoherently, and not give a damn that you didn't understand my mumbling, I'd be doing just what these so-called artists, these con men, are doing, who haven't yet learned to speak and think clearly and directly. If art is communication, then say what it is you want to say, clearly. Don't ask us to understand your unintelligible mumblings. We've got to quit accepting him on his terms. Their deliberate incoherence tells me this: they have nothing, really, to say. They want you to think your criteria are faulty. Artists have always broken with formula, but you've still got to have quality and craftsmanship and content. One needn't be a well-read expert or critic to know what's garbage. If I want to be understood, I won't mumble; I'll speak clearly--whether you like my ideas or not, I'll transmit them to you so you can understand them and then you can accept or reject my ideas as you see fit. Of what use are the ideas that I am trying to express if I mumble? And that's the point. Artists today can hang any kind of title on something, any damned piece of sculpture, painting, film, or whatnot, and call it this or call it that, and you're expected to appreciate it, just because it's "different." If you need an expert "critic" to explain it to you, he can read anything into anything--and does it, daily. These "experts" have allowed that the onus of responsibility is no longer with the artist--who's walked away from it; it's now your responsibility as the viewer to decipher and appreciate what he's trying to say, if he's trying to say anything at all. That's the cop-out. I can appreciate new styles and approaches, but damn it, let them be built on something solid--let them be based on content, something valid. Nobody these days has balls enough to say something is crap when it is crap. Everybody's very apologetic, backing off from making the decision publicly and denouncing junk for what it is."

Alex Toth, A he-man of illustration, in an interview with Vincent Davis, Richard Kyle, and Bill Spier

-Jams