So I just had this little mini-revelation this morning and had to share it:

Modern art is the highest form of trickery.

Because, see, earlier art forms, the painting was judged on how well it fooled the viewer. "Those trees REALLY look like trees!" And the viewer is fooled and the painting is an accurate mirror of nature. Except of course it really isn't. The viewer is looking at paint on a canvas, not at a tree, and so is fooled.

Now comes the modern artist who says: "Hey! All these trees are just paint on canvas! You're being fooled! I'm just going to paint some paint on a canvas." And so she does. But people are STILL fooled into having the SAME (or similar)AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE.

The modern artist tells the viewer they're being fooled, and then fools them. This is the highest form of trickery.

I came to this realization after seeing Penn & Teller in Las Vegas, who basically do the same kind of misdirection. Note that this does in no way mitigate the skill of the artist. Penn is still an excellent juggler. Moreover, he must be perhaps more skilled at both juggling and misdirection to achieve success at both.