Ugly Comics

“Good” is both vague and subjective. What if we changed the way we talk about art, moving away from “good” or “bad” and towards “meaningful”? It would still be a subjective definition, but it’s art: subjectivity is kinda the point...

To me, a work of art that is meaningful is a work of art that moves me. What do I mean by moves? Sometimes it’s obvious: I will laugh or I will cry, or both. Sometimes I feel envious of meaningful art, wishing I’d had that idea first. Sometimes it’s ineffable, a feeling of rightness in my stomach, a shivery sense of yes, of being somehow seen. Meaningful visual art makes me feel a comfortable sense of humanity’s goodness—like I’m witnesses centuries of nice human things like books, pitchers, pears, sweetness. Sometimes it’s a violent NO I HATE IT. Sometimes it’s a quiet “hmmm” I think about for months or years.

Mornings, writes poem.

Later, words etched in her barf.