In The Realm Of Inauthenticity & The Revolution Of Everyday Art

....these are not authentic works of art...

...are these not authentic works of art?...

...authenticity in art, vital when verifying of the creator of a potentially valuable painting, as a concept, was challenged long ago by theorists and, as you know, debunked in the Pop boom by arch copyist, Andy Warhol..................................................................if I should make prints of these, would the prints be authentic? Signing them would seal the matter............................

...............................................................................................so now I consider other meanings of the word, such as 'real' and 'genuine' with regard to defining a person making images...................................

........................is a person using digital tools an 'authentic' artist? To me, the question is absurd and yet there can be no doubt that it the question is real for traditionalists who hold 'classical' techniques so dear. For them, 'authenticity' derives from traditions in art which remain unchanged/unchallengeable over the centuries...........which causes me to consider at what point they draw the line (pun intended)? Collage, the mere act of pasting ready made images together, is surely not 'real' art, even if the artist should do so with a Fine Art eye for composition and colour. But does anyone alive today actually challenge the validity or 'authenticity' of Andy Warhol as an artist? Perhaps they do..................

.......................these three pieces (of six), In The Realm Of Inauthenticity, were not inspired by questions of authenticity in art but a passage from Raoul Vaneigem's The Revolution Of Everyday Life:
                    'Just as we are condemned to survival, so we are condemned to 'keep up appearances' in                     the realm of inauthenticity.'
.........he writes in relation to the roles we play as a necessary survival mechanism in a society which demands stereotyping in order for it to continue.................this is at odds with the Situationist challenge of revolutionising everyday life, of course.......................
................................................................................it is ironic that those who would challenge the authenticity of some art workers, whilst clinging desperately to romantic notions of the artist as 'original' visionary, cannot rid themselves of blinkered stereotyping when confronted with ideas which threaten their cherished classical mindset...........................................