Reading Blog #1

"The most expensive GIF of all time" poses an interesting debate-- What art is considered valuable or not? After all, Michael Green's art piece Balloon Dog Deflated is essentially the same subject as Jeff Koons' $58.4 million sculpture Balloon Dog (Orange). It seems as if different art mediums have different levels of profitability and success in some cases. I found Green's art statement interesting when he said, "The deflation itself is a statement where it is once again time to destroy the values of the tradition of modern art and for our culture to evolve to the logical next step, the digital medium."

His claim intrigued me but I have to disagree with Green. There is a reason that his overpriced GIF still hasn't sold on the internet. This means that people in fact do not believe that his creation is a money-worthy piece of art. Digital art is extremely accessible thanks to the internet. GIFs can be considered unvaluable because of how easy they are to create-- you can search up GIF generator and boom you have your creation. However, that is not to diminish digital artists and their craft.

It goes to show that digital artists face more of a challenge to stand out and impress the viewer. Because the internet is very prevalent, I would argue that successful digital artists are some of the best creators out there.

I believe Green is also poking fun at Koons' creations. Personally, I find Koons' art kitschy and an eye sore. There is no reason why Koons' large sculptures should be selling for the amount that they are. Of course it is up to personal preference and interpretation, but just because it is a large sculpture does not mean it has a lot of value stamped on it. For that, I believe that Green was also making the point that if Koon is able to sell his creations at extremely high prices, why can't he?