So, the Tree of Life meets Star Trek?Consider the Postmodern, are we not the Borg? The Borg are the ultimate user, interested only in the aquisition of technology and adding the uniqueness of others to their collective. I would say this perfectly sums up contemporary painting.
As for zooming in and zooming out, you are correct but I think the problem lies not exclusively with the artist but with society itself. Personally I would redefine the painting aesthetic for the education of society rather than the furtherence of Art. It may be that these are the same thing. It is possible that it is just a question of emphasis.
I take your point concerning how much of what we think we know about the past is true. But in the writings of the major players of the time they complained of stagnation in style and content not fragmentation. Though it is seems certain that the feeling of entropy was with them. They found a way out, maybe we can too.
Perhaps this is the task before us. Perhaps as long as there are painters unsatisfied with the "state of the Art" then painting is not lost to us. I, certainly, am not yet ready to abandon Art for a subscription to Interior Design Today. Am I confident of the future, though? It is conceivable, and your comments would tend to support such a position, that I have no alternative but to be confident irrespective of any internal disquiet.
I suppose I can claim that as long as I have doubts I remain human not Borg.
