Hal Foster's "Subversive Signs"

In this short excerpt written by Hal Foster, the topic of what has art transformed to is pondered. Foster's opinion after viewing many works and looking closely at American art, has found that for an American artist and works to be noticed, it has to be about bigger topics such as the economy, politics, representational of the sex industry, or about social life. He continues and talks about the transition of artists from being "a produccer of art" to a "manipulator of signs" and the viewer to transition from a passive contemplator to a reader of the meanings within the artist's works.

I thought the idea of transition was key in this writing and I was most interested in it because I believe that today's art puts beauty in the backseat and focuses more about a deeper meaning that the artists has come up with about controversial ideas. I think that it it good to have meaning in a work of art but I wish that our culture would not sluff away the idea of aesthetics and would bring back some of the prior styles used in Art History that will always be famous.

• Is art still powerful and meaningful if it doesn’t hold a message or story?

• Do artists feel like they aren’t just producing art, but are creating a series of signs that they want their viewers to understand?

• Why does art need direction or a meaning?