Recently I found myself in a heated debate about whether any and all forms of art can ever be considered objectively bad. I was casually talking with a friend about new music, when she brought up Justin Bieber’s new song “Yummy”—a song that many have criticized to be some of his worst work creatively. Her face grew in disgust as she continued to express her hatred for this song and claimed that anyone will agree with how terrible “Yummy” is.
Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the song myself, something about the matter-of-fact way in which my friend expressed the “badness” of it unsettled me. I decided to disagree and express how no art can ever be considered objectively terrible or a failure. Even though the resounding and overpowering reaction to “Yummy” is one of contempt, there are of course still those groups of people out there who enjoy the song and take pleasure in its own creative essence.
“But isn't art in its nature a subjective thing, so the point is that all forms and interpretations of art have some sort of audience?” I argued with my friend that night.
Her being a painter, I would have assumed that she agreed with my stance that art is subjective, therefore no art can be considered a failure. However, to my surprise, she took a more elitist stance, in which she believed that art can be viewed as black-and-white and simply “good” or “bad.” She went on to provide other examples of popular songs or movies or texts that had famously failed in the public eye. And while her arguments and examples were compelling, I still couldn’t sway from my, perhaps innocent and naive, belief that bad art does not exist.
To me, art is inherently subjective. This means that no matter how boringly mainstream or startling abstract it is, there can always be an audience found who appreciates its form and style and essence. There is no rulebook when it comes to making and enjoying the countless forms of art in our world. Therefore, no one person or group of people can label a piece of art “bad” because there are no parameters as to what “good” art even is.
But that’s just my view on this clearly divided topic. Where do you stand on this debate? Can any art be considered objectively bad?