It may be that "lazy" is an incorrect or incomplete description. If you are right about the "abyss of consequence", and I think you are, then perhaps a good deal of fear is in the mix also.

This is not the first time that we have been in this situation. But it might be the first time that we have ever consciously considered projecting power and consequence into the future with full knowledge of the consequences of the past.

That is more than just a little frightening.

However this may be, I would question whether or not painting (rather than a broader concept of Art) commands the power anymore. The fragmentation of the "pluralistic" Postmodern era is more like fractures. Perhaps more so now than in any other time period, it becomes impossible to survey the contempory scene without recourse to specialization. With increasing specialization comes entropy. I think this, more than anything else, is what I feel when I refer to the death of painting.

An entropic universe is very cold.