Da Hee Kong, a 12th grade student attending Jakarta International School in Indonesia, sent us over an editorial exploring the identity of contemporary art titled Contemporary Art: Is it Art or a Fraud?

Interesting question. Not only is that a bold query, but any writings from an amazing, albeit underrepresented, place like Jakarta tend to grab our attention.

Especially when you realize she's talking about chimps painting.

“Paint drops dashed straight onto the white canvas surface and splashed,” writes Kong. “The two happy chimpanzees giggled and swung the brush more fiercely. Vibrant color stains and streaks soon filled the canvas and began to resemble what we know as the famous ‘drip’ art Jackson Pollock has founded.” Intrigued? We were. Read the entire piece below:

Contemporary Art: Is it Art or a Fraud? by Da Hee Kong

Paint drops dashed straight onto the white canvas surface and splashed. The two happy chimpanzees giggled and swung the brush more fiercely. Vibrant color stains and streaks soon filled the canvas and began to resemble what we know as the famous “drip” art Jackson Pollock has founded.

Without stating the name of the artist, the work was hung on one of the walls in an exhibition held in a rich town. Fixing their eyes on the piece with encrusted layers of meaningless lines and colors, highly educated spectators, appreciated, nodded as if they have understood the true meaning of the works of the two happy chimpanzees. If only they did not reveal who the real creator was, the piece would have been sold with a successful bid with a remarkable price.

We live in a century where chimpanzees’ pastime creation is mistaken as artwork. Has art been oversimplified? It has become a widespread tendency to refer works that appear peculiar or strange as contemporary art. Contemporary art has broken the boundaries of art, overflowing like water in a narrow river. What is the boundary of contemporary art? Where does it commence and finish? Does it even exist?

A blank, white canvas entitled “The invisible sculpture.” A combination of red, yellow, and blue squares entitled “The conversation between the tiger and the monkey.” Both are examples of contemporary art, so different from the works of ancient fresco painters who must have worked weeks, months, even years, to see the fruit of their overly hard work. Things change as old generations die out. But what has not changed is the scent of society we can smell from the works in that particular era. To suit the taste of the contemporary populace, art is condemned to renovate itself. What society demands is what shapes art of the era. The modern public requests for new and innovative techniques. Their demand for uniqueness from past eras of art has struck modern artists to plaster and powder their works with uniqueness, giving birth to what we know as contemporary art.

The new era has set foot on the timeline of art. An era where a contemporary artist holds his huge stone stained with paints thrown randomly onto and very proudly informs us that it is an “illustration of his psychological oppression and exquisite emotional change.” An era of art which its originality and experimental attempts should be revered.

Contemporary art is not a fraud. It is the fruit of the endeavors to survive and respond to the demand of people. It is the victim of the fraud of ones that do not realize every matter holds value. The main problem that contemporary art suffers is the communication. Marcel Duchamp, a contemporary artist who was tired to hear empty praises, “tossed something insignificant like bottle stands and toilet stools onto the faces of the art fans just to get on their nerves; to make them angry.” But Duchamp himself couldn’t hold his anger as he saw them still praising the beauty of his creation in astonishment. Artist holds freedom of expression, and the viewers the liberty of interpretation. Contemporary art longs for the communication between spectators and artists. Not vacant praises, not recognition of the exact meaning of the work, but a simple appreciation of work, as art.

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