Art History

What is the most ridiculous work of modern art that you have seen?

I saw a glass of water on a shelf entitled "this is an oak tree" at the Tate(somebody at some stage spilt the oak tree lol!), or a small "michelin man" figure surrounded by crucifixes entitled "television" in the guggenheim, I could go on........... I love art but some people are taking the p**** surely??

Public Comments

1. All of them!!
2. Tracey Emins unmade bed has got to be one of the most ridiculous. I'm an artist and I love to draw paint and do sculpture, some of it is a bit whacky but Tracey takes the biscuit.
3. anything by Damien Hurst...or Tracy Emins
4. I suppose it makes me a barbarian, but I have always found the hoopla over Jackson Pollock's paintings to be ridiculous. Dripping paint artistically over large canvasses seems to me to be a posssiby enjoyable occupation, but anyone can do it--three year old kids can do it. Monkeys can do it. I guess I just don't get it, but I'd vote for any Jackson Pollock drippy canvas. Maggie
5. The unmade bed.
6. I think most of it is ridiculous and an insult to the intelligence of the viewer. When it comes to art, I am a purist. I like to see skill in the brush strokes. Time taken in the sculpting and thought to go into the very idea of what is presented. I see no need for an arrogant "artist" to make us "think". I think just fine looking at Jan Van Eyck painting: The Marriage of Arnolfini. You can see it in the National Portrait Gallery. I think it is in room 154 if I remember correctly. That painting makes me think as does Salvador Dali (a true genius).
7. Hello, (ANS) That bed!! by Tracey Emin **what a pretentious load on non sense, if that's art I'm a pink banana!!. Ivan
8. At the Tate theres a 'sculpture' called something like 'Stag seen by Lightening' and its basically a giant bit of jagged metal suspended from a girder and a pile of clay on the floor. I stood by it, baffled, for about 20mins and STILL couldnt make any sense of it!! Art is a personal thing and I try not to sl*g any of it off, however some people ride on the back of their name without putting much thought into their art - Damien Hurst & Tracey Emin being 2 key people who do that. They both got names for themselves for shock factor and now use their name to call ANYTHING they do 'art'. But hey, who are we to judge? They may have put hours and hours of thought into their work for all we know :) Happy Thursday!xx
9. I think most things by Thomas Friedman are pretty crazy. But I love them so much. For example, one long continueous pencil shaving from a whole pencil; or some gum so thinkly stretched as to extend from the floor to the ceiling; or a microscopic (so small you seriously can barebly see it) bit of his own poop on a huge pedestal.
10. Jackson Pollacks crap
11. I think there was a pile of bricks at the Tate once, at the time I was working on building sites. You should see the artwork there.
12. KD pretty much hit the nail on the head. I don't see what's so wonderful about Jackson Pollock either. I mean, OK, it looks cool, but any five-year-old with a paint can and a stick could do the same thing. The most random piece I've seen was a bunch of half-full Coke bottles tied to a clothesline. I was on a tour through a museum and the guide was going on and on about how insightful it was, but all I could think was, that's a waste of perfectly good drinks. I can't even remember who put it together.
13. there was a gray back ground...and a large circle made by white dots..it was empty inside..as in the inside of the circle was the same as the gray background...that was it. it was called salt lake. i didn't get it...
14. modern art is not my cup of tea.
15. There is so much pretentious rubbish about that it gives art a bad name. A shame as there are many excellent painters working today. S
16. Yeah.i agree, too many of these "artists" must be laughing all the way to the bank. My 8 yr old could do better.
17. a dead tree with barbie heads hanging off it- it was the stupidest thing ive ever seen..nothing artist about i at all. it was in a gallery in Germany. totally ridiculous.
18. The box with the flies in it,