Wonderful documentary. Gave me a lot of food for thought the first time I saw it, and later changed my views on beauty. Being a thoroughly modern child, I used to think that beauty did not matter, and was largely an elitist construct. Now I don't, because I think it's important, and that modern art's answer -- to be 3edgy5u -- has just led to a proliferation of art that asks questions, instead of being art according to an aesthetic judgement, i.e. it's creator centered, and says fuck you to the onlooker. In other words -- it's another elitist construct, except that now the craftsmanship, the rigour, and the aesthetic judgement are missing.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it! It seems to me that both traditional and modern art are elitist, but in different ways. Traditional art can be enjoyed by most people, but it takes skill to make. Modern art can be made by pretty much anyone, but can only be truly enjoyed by a small elite that have a certain cultural background. One of my uncles is an art dealer and has told me stories about how some talentless modern "artists" have managed to make a name for themselves simply by bribing art critics. This is another reason why I prefer traditional art, it's a lot more difficult to fake!
Thanks for sharing! I didn't agree with quite a lot of what he said, but I think it was an interesting watch and critic of modern art. I'm not sure that I'd agree that the sole or primary aim of art is necessarily beauty (although, it is the case that this is the primary aim of many pieces of art) or that losing this aim is a damning testimony about the state of humanity or modern society. Also, the idea that beauty is somehow the "divine" in corporeal form seems almost laughably outdated as a point of view (although this is presumably highly personal). If someone else can add a tag, it'd be a #goodlongwatch (if define an hour as long!).