Bad Balance issue 8 is now available for download or purchase, y’all.

Bad Balance Magazine

Bad Balance: A magazine of interest.

On the Subject of the Deep and Emotional
By Vladimir Zimakov

I am not quite sure what bothers me more about the openings; the people or the art. It happens in the beginning of every year. Everybody gets really dressed up and before going and getting drunk at some party, they go to the gallery openings. By quickly browsing through the art show, which sucks to begin with, the socializing time begins. So in essence, the gallery openings are nothing more than the occasion to party and dress up. That kind of ritual has been going on for years, decades, even centuries.

The first question that pops into my mind is do people really give a damn about art to begin with? Lately it all seems to be really fake to me. The whole art movement seems to be going one direction. And it sure as hell isn't going upwards. Art is becoming just another trendy thing in the world. Or maybe it always was. Why can't people just admit to themselves that what they see in front of them sucks? I am sick of seeing the retarded faces with fake smiles admiring something that they really find to be of a very little interest. Could it be that the "politically correct" attitude about art went so far that a normal person can't even tell what is good and what is bad? In my own opinion, the art that has been created in the past couple of years and presented at the galleries is neither good or bad, it's a static and boring exhibit of the same things. It is all "different" and "unique," but in the same damn way.

And the other thing that bothers the living crap out of me is art made just for the sake of being different. Happens a lot lately, especially in painting and printmaking. Either a bunch of paint gets slapped mindlessly against the canvas or a bunch of oddly shaped blocks are being rotated randomly on the printing press. Unfortunately, I see a lot of that at the galleries, right alongside the people who actually pretend to like and admire that kind of stuff.

So the next time you are thinking about going to the gallery openings, I suggest you boycott stupid art and don't go. And if you want to socialize and drink and show off, there are plenty of other social activities you can participate in.