Most great art pieces are ‘great’ because they display the skill of an artist. But what if the artist does something intentionally wrong? Does that mean the piece is bad? Or is it great in a different way?

One example of this is ‘Wrong’ by John Baldessari. The photo depicts a man and some terrible composition. Under the photo, ‘WRONG’ is written in capital letters. On the surface, this image could just be wrong. If you saw this photo on a relative’s mantlepiece, you may not even notice it. If you do, you might dismiss it as amateur work or mock it with some friends. But why would Baldessari intentionally create a bad piece, and point out to everybody that it’s wrong?

Thinking about why an artist made something can bring an entirely new perspective to an art piece. In this case, we know that Baldessari is at least skilled enough to know that he made mistakes. One reason he did this was irony. By criticizing his own work, it makes you consider why you would do the same thing. Is it fair to look at something someone did for fun and judge it? No constructive feedback, just a big condescending label. The artist doesn’t need mockery, they need to make more art. This turns Baldessari’s work from a poor photo to a question about why people make art.