I wish that I could have more of an appreciation for what John Cage did with his 4:33 piece. But to me, his so-called "radicalism" was good for its time and it definitely helped redefine what art and music are. However, people trying to recreate his work feel lazy and almost off-putting. John was something special to come up with the idea of only "performing" silence and just making a bunch of random noise. He had some thoughts and revolutionary ideas behind it. But all these people copying him in the modern age just feel sloppy and unoriginal.
In the modern world, people need constant stimulation because we are surrounded by an oncoming stream of entertainment via our phones. People performing silence now feel like a call for attention because someone already did it. The idea has been made and performed. I think people should be putting in the effort to take his idea and evolve it into something that can be enjoyable by the modern masses.
I do think overall John Cage did have an impact on modern art, kind of in a negative way because some of this stuff is just lazy and doesn't take talent. I do think society has moved on to better more complex things. I think art should require an idea and some kind of talent or effort, otherwise anyone can do it, which I don't agree with. I think everyone can make art, but I hate how "bad art" (no effort no ideas no originality) is glorified by people. I think people who admire bad art are small-minded and haven't seen anything good. Just because "anything can be art" doesn't mean it should. It's just irritating how actual good artists or overlooked because someone wanted to make a mediocre statement with a mediocre piece of art.
Of the two toilets I have below, one is just a simple everyday toilet. The other, someone put effort and thought into the details of the toilet to make it more "royal" looking. Both could be called art but only one in my opinion is worth the title.
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