15 minutes of fame, 1 century of poison

Someone and I were talking about how we both preferred the artistes of the 50s to today's.

I was saying that I feel Andy Warhol has a large part to play for how art in all its forms - music, acting, fashion, design, fine arts, etc. - has become today: meaningless and banal. He was the originator and all-time immense advocator of the theory and prediction, '15 minutes of fame'.

Over time, art has evolved to be about the artists themselves, and scarcely anything about the art itself. Whether it be music, design or fine arts, very often, art has become about the artistes, not the art. Effort and quality of the artwork are less important than if the artistes are gaining attention. It has caused people to be hungry about attention. It has caused people who are not interested in music to become musicians, and self-professed art lovers and connoisseurs who really just want to look good.

Even the truly ardent artistes are often distracted and misled by people's constant attention on them instead of their works, and people's pressure on them to emphasize on themselves instead of their works. Sometimes, the pressure leads them away from their works and talents, and causes them to lose their immense potential to what could have been great works of art.

A bistro opened for business at my alma mater art college months ago. Guess the name of the bistro?

Yes, you're right - '15 minutes'.

I thought to myself, "Seriously?"