Art, a rant inspired by "The Dark Knight"

Art is a scam.
For those of you who believe that life is but an illusion, this should come as no shock to you. However, it's been my experience that it is this set of people that would rather dip their tongue in battery acid than admit I'm right.

Is it art?
A good question. Lots of smart people have written lots of stupid things to answer this question. My answer is easy, cynical and simple, born from nearly a decade of Coffee shops, Theatre, and second-hand art school experience. Art is subjective. The nature of Art within an object/action is found solely within the viewer's mind. Anybody who tells what they feel is or isn't art is expressing an opinion. Anybody who tries to tell you how to feel about the artistry of an object/action is a moron. When it comes to art, everybody's right, because art is a judgment.

Art is more valuable than its components.
Very few probably look at "The Scream" and appreciate that it's a mixture of various toxic metals originally suspended into oil spread across a piece of cardboard. Very few people probably look at Michelangelo's David and bemoan the fact that it wont get its original market price because so much of the marble has been chipped away to create a naked man Art is an appreciation of an action/object, not of simply the components, but how the components exist, often in relationship to each other. The more artistic one feels the action/object is the more value one will assign it.

Art is useless.
This statement isn't exactly true; however, what idiots commonly call "high art" (painting, sculpture, papermaking etc.) doesn't have a practical function in everyday life. Owning a Ming vase won't ensure you'll wake up on time. The Venus de Milo isn't going to help you make breakfast. The Pollack painting on the wall is not going to keep me warm in the winter time unless I set it on fire. The most practical use for "high art" is in terms of investment. Odds are if the action/object has a high enough art (people continue to think it's valuable) then its value will rise over time. Koons' Rabbit is nothing but a stainless steel baseball card.

Art is a scam.
The job of the artist then, is to convince others (and commonly themselves) that the action/object that they have created has value, i.e. is art. The artist who makes a living with their art does so by selling it to others. People won't buy a useless object unless they somehow find it valuable. In other words the job of an artist is to convince people that a useless action/object that they've made has value. The funny thing is, as long as the viewer believes that the art is valuable, the art remains valuable. The artist is not the conman. The art is.