# Artforms that could be great but suck **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213 "2017-02-19T05:42:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/1 "2017-02-19T05:42:58Z")
Flags, man. Think of how great they could be, summarizing the ideal and sentiment of a whole country in iconic form on a cloth canvas. But looking at the majority of what’s out there, it is mostly boring and ugly. The only flags I can think of as being interesting or aesthetically pleasing aren’t geopolitical (Earth, Pride, and UFP (Trek)). I would say money too. There’s some progress being made in places. There’s definitely more people aware of the problem than with flags. It could use some work too though. I would also say clown makeup, though Cirque duSoleil has made some strides in that arena. What other examples have you? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/2 "2017-02-19T05:49:14Z")
Feel free to cite Artforms that are generally abused along with outstanding exceptions. Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/3 "2017-02-19T06:17:47Z")
And brief stand-up monologues in comedian-oriented sitcoms. What’s the deal with them, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/4 "2017-02-21T00:09:43Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I would say money too. There’s some progress being made in places. There’s definitely more people aware of the problem than with flags. It could use some work too though. Money isn’t an artform, though - it’s functional. The artistic components are secondary and often part of anti-counterfeiting features. Having said that, I rather like Australian and New Zealand currency. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/5 "2017-02-21T00:27:58Z")
Comic books. The artwork has sucked since the changes in the 90s. Plus there’s the whole lack of consistency ironically coupled with recycled plots. It shouldn’t be so hard to make an logical story arc with compelling writing that lasts longer than a graphic novel. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/6 "2017-02-21T00:36:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Comic books. The artwork has sucked since the changes in the 90s. Plus there’s the whole lack of consistency ironically coupled with recycled plots. It shouldn’t be so hard to make an logical story arc with compelling writing that lasts longer than a graphic novel. So you’re drawing a distinction between comic books and graphic novels, and saying comic books are terrible, when the good comic books are precisely what get called graphic novels. Well, Alan Moore says he wrote comics. I’m inclined to believe him. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/7 "2017-02-21T00:54:45Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Comic books. The artwork has sucked since the changes in the 90s. Plus there’s the whole lack of consistency ironically coupled with recycled plots. It shouldn’t be so hard to make an logical story arc with compelling writing that lasts longer than a graphic novel. No way, man! The form is enjoying some of the best quality entertainment ever! The art itself is sterling, and the writing (yes, with some exceptions) is top notch. We’re light-years ahead of any time in the past. We hit a localized low with the Lee/Liefeld “balloon-bosoms and microscopic feet” era. Nothing being published today is as bad as that! [This particular grotesquerie is, alas, representative of the era’s ills.](http://img2.rnkr-static.com/user_node_img/50006/1000115285/870/honorable-mention-photo-u1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/8 "2017-02-21T10:34:03Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > … > > We hit a localized low with the Lee/Liefeld “balloon-bosoms and microscopic feet” era. Nothing being published today is as bad as that! > > [This particular grotesquerie is, alas, representative of the era’s ills.](http://img2.rnkr-static.com/user_node_img/50006/1000115285/870/honorable-mention-photo-u1.jpg) Wow! Groucho Marx’s apocryphal quote that you should never appear in movies, or in this case comics, where the men have bigger tits than the women seems very apt here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/9 "2017-02-21T10:43:39Z")
And that picture doesn’t even show off Liefeld’s patented CrotchVoid drawing style. All his characters look like their clothing is being sucked into their crotches. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/10 "2017-03-22T16:56:17Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Money isn’t an artform, though - it’s functional. The artistic components are secondary That’s kind of the point of the thread. There are a lot of things for which aesthetics aren’t the primary purpose and yet either involve some form of craft or by their nature are a ripe medium. (Not that we can’t also discuss primary artforms that aren’t working or are under utilized too). Maybe I could have worded it better but I thought the examples would make it clear. I’ll add… Packaging, especially fast food bags and cereal boxes. Advertising in general, though there are some notable exceptions especially billboards. Example of something that is changing in this respect: statues/sculptures as a canvas - for example the cow project and other similar charity contests, where the same object is painted in creative different ways by different people. And of course there has already been quite the renaissance already in cake art. I think it is getting started, but there needs to be more of and more variety of 3D printed food especially non desserts. Also it has been done but there needs to be more pet cosplay, especially outside of dogs and cats. Including flea circuses. But really money and flags are the closest to what it is. They seem almost naturally frameable, already have an under utilized aesthetic component, and are linked to things with great potential symbolism and meaning. I’d like more things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/11 "2017-03-22T17:37:09Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > No way, man! The form is enjoying some of the best quality entertainment ever! The art itself is sterling, and the writing (yes, with some exceptions) is top notch. We’re light-years ahead of any time in the past. > > We hit a localized low with the Lee/Liefeld “balloon-bosoms and microscopic feet” era. Nothing being published today is as bad as that! > > [This particular grotesquerie is, alas, representative of the era’s ills.](http://img2.rnkr-static.com/user_node_img/50006/1000115285/870/honorable-mention-photo-u1.jpg) Why in the world would they accept artwork like that? It’s just stupidly grotesque. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/12 "2017-03-22T17:37:32Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > But looking at the majority of what’s out there, it is mostly boring and ugly. The only flags I can think of as being interesting or aesthetically pleasing aren’t geopolitical (Earth, Pride, and UFP (Trek)). I’m actually with you a lot of the way, just from seeing far too many US state and city flags, but I think you still might be selling the art form short… Plenty of militant or totalitarian movements have _very_ interesting or aesthetically pleasing flags, for example. 'Stand for unfathomable human loss, sure, but the _brand recognition’s_ pretty dang solid. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/13 "2017-03-24T01:10:54Z")
Surely flags and coins could be more interesting, but STAMPS have really declined in quality since the 1950’s or so. For one thing no one uses them anymore, so no one notices them or cares about them, so they’ve essentially been ignored. Every common (US) stamp seems to have a flag on it, or a unidentifiable flower, or tries to be a mini-poster. When they got away from portraits they’ve been boring. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/14 "2017-03-24T05:26:05Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Why in the world would they accept artwork like that? It’s just stupidly grotesque. Because it sold like fucking mad. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/15 "2017-03-24T06:36:07Z")
Many people (I’m not one of them) feel that way about Rush. :o ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/16 "2017-03-24T08:42:45Z")
I’ll just go ahead and say it: Porn. I gave up watching porn over a year ago, mainly because I think it’s geared more towards “shock” value rather than it is towards erotic. It boggles my mind. A multi billion dollar industry, but they can’t find any writers or directors that are worth a damn. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/17 "2017-03-24T09:18:05Z")
Balloon animals. When is some clown going to take this to the next level? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/18 "2017-03-24T09:19:20Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Flags, man. Think of how great they could be, summarizing the ideal and sentiment of a whole country in iconic form on a cloth canvas. But looking at the majority of what’s out there, it is mostly boring and ugly. The only flags I can think of as being interesting or aesthetically pleasing aren’t geopolitical (Earth, Pride, and UFP (Trek)). Flags are not an art form. They are functional. They’re designed to be easily recognizable at a glance or at distance, so that you can tell (say, on the battlefield, or at sea) who is friend and who is foe. These requirements favour plain, large, abstract shapes in bold, contrasting colours. That’s why you have so many tricolours. They may be “boring” and “ugly”, but they are doing exactly what they are intended to do, and moreover doing it much better than more intricate and less abstract designs. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/19 "2017-03-24T09:53:59Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Flags are not an art form. They are functional. They’re designed to be easily recognizable at a glance or at distance, so that you can tell (say, on the battlefield, or at sea) who is friend and who is foe. These requirements favour plain, large, abstract shapes in bold, contrasting colours. That’s why you have so many tricolours. They may be “boring” and “ugly”, but they are doing exactly what they are intended to do, and moreover doing it much better than more intricate and less abstract designs. Of course flags are an art form. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213/20 "2017-03-24T12:47:04Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Of course flags are an art form. Perhaps in the same way that user interface icons are. It’s fine to design them with beauty, novelty, and sentimentality in mind, but that is definitely not the overriding concern. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artforms-that-could-be-great-but-suck/780213.md?page=2)