I've tried to stay out of commenting on this GoI, mostly because I've banged on the anti-GoI drum enough that I think my thoughts on that are well-known at this point, and also because a lot of my reaction is on a personal level of distaste.
This is probably the best of the GAW articles, in the sense that it actually has some reason to exist and is saying something beyond the "look I am repeating this meme" sensibilities of pretty much everything else to come out of this. I was hesitant to downvote it for that reason, because if this group has to exist, it is far more palatable in this iteration and I don't really want to discourage that. In the end, though, I'm really unlikely to be moved that much by IRC conversations between teenagers and someone that's still pretty new to the "disillusionment about the world" game.
One thing that I really haven't cared for is the development, whether intended or as a reaction to the commentary surrounding these articles, of this group as an anti-AWCY? anartist option. People fixate on AWCY? like their problem was pointless destruction and hipsterism, when what the problem has usually been is the promotion of art as a conceptual sledgehammer what teaches you lessons. The best art can be political, it can have a clear message, but usually its distinguishing feature is not how quickly you can lead a patron from Point A to Point B. This piece recognizes that, to an extent, but that understanding is pretty diluted with all the "when will the killing end" business that is really beside the point here.
Mostly, though? Even art viewed through an anti-AWCY? lens is still art placed along the same tired, shallow, puerile axis that is set by the existence of AWCY?. Defining yourself in opposition to something is still giving that thing a large degree of power over the conversation. I don't really see a whole lot of potential in the core concept in any sense, to be honest, but shackling this to AWCY?, like it needs some sort of in-universe repudiation before anyone can finally just write about art without weird hangups, doesn't strike me as a sustainable model or one that's going to lead to anything except a continuation of the endless and unproductive fixation on AWCY?.
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