Manual of Contemporary Art Style

Here's a funny book. The Pablo Helguera Manual of Contemporary Art Style is a tongue-in-cheek guide for artists, curators, and critics. I guess it's a spoof of an Emily Post type of book, but the thing is, a lot of it is true. It's hard to tell where the joke ends and where reality begins. Here's a quote from the introduction that I thought was funny:

"Art is an uncommon profession, one that is best defined as an entrepreneurial religion. This is because it offers the possibility of spiritual fulfillment but at the same time it operates like any other enterprise of our capitalist world. When the novice initiates his relationship with art, he tends to see it as a spiritual calling, but secretly awaits a personal and financial remuneration that goes beyond internal fulfillment. When such remuneration is not received, it is replaced by great perplexity, distress, and bitterness. Hence, those who enter the art world emphasizing the spiritual over the pragmatic tend to become quickly disappointed, while those who go in pragmatically and with little concern for spiritual fulfillment are the ones who integrate in the field with greater ease."

Entrepreneurial religion? I laughed out loud when I read that, but it's so true. The sad part about this book is that you begin to see that artists really are only pawns in the art world game. It's also amazing to think about how many peoples' livelihoods depend on the work of artists.

Check this book out and see what you think.