modern-art-2
Original: modern-art-2 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man with flame-like red hair: I gotta be honest. I don't get modern art.
Panel 2:
Woman (dark hair): It's a marketing gimmick.
Panel 3:
Man: People LOVE to complain about modern art. They don't get modern art. "My kid could draw this!" "It's just a square?"
Panel 4:
Woman: So, you pay us some money, come look at our squares and funny shapes, feel superior to the snobs and elitists who claim to actually like this stuff, and then you go home and tell all of your friends who don't get it. If either them, they come too!
Panel 5:
Woman: The free market is so clever that it gave you exactly what you wanted, even though you didn't know you wanted it!
Panel 6:
Woman: Just kidding. I'm part of an art installation and I always give the same speech to visitors.
Panel 7:
Man: AAAH!
(Panels show the man and woman walking through a gallery.)
Panel (later):
Man: Modern art is SO WEIRD.
Man: RIGHT?!
Final panel:
Woman: PHEW.
Votey:
So, after drawing this I found out this basic idea has been actually studied by real economic thinkers for decades.
You guys are weird.
Man with flame-like red hair: I gotta be honest. I don't get modern art.
Panel 2:
Woman (dark hair): It's a marketing gimmick.
Panel 3:
Man: People LOVE to complain about modern art. They don't get modern art. "My kid could draw this!" "It's just a square?"
Panel 4:
Woman: So, you pay us some money, come look at our squares and funny shapes, feel superior to the snobs and elitists who claim to actually like this stuff, and then you go home and tell all of your friends who don't get it. If either them, they come too!
Panel 5:
Woman: The free market is so clever that it gave you exactly what you wanted, even though you didn't know you wanted it!
Panel 6:
Woman: Just kidding. I'm part of an art installation and I always give the same speech to visitors.
Panel 7:
Man: AAAH!
(Panels show the man and woman walking through a gallery.)
Panel (later):
Man: Modern art is SO WEIRD.
Man: RIGHT?!
Final panel:
Woman: PHEW.
Votey:
So, after drawing this I found out this basic idea has been actually studied by real economic thinkers for decades.
You guys are weird.
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic set in an art gallery. A man with flame-like red hair tells a dark-haired woman, "I gotta be honest. I don't get modern art." She replies, "It's a marketing gimmick." He complains that people love to say things like "My kid could draw this!" or "It's just a square?" She explains the supposed business model: you pay money, look at squares and funny shapes, feel superior to the snobs and elitists who claim to like the stuff, then go home and tell all your friends who also don't get it, bringing them in too. She concludes, "The free market is so clever that it gave you exactly what you wanted, even though you didn't know you wanted it!" Then she adds, "Just kidding. I'm part of an art installation and I always give the same speech to visitors." The man screams "AAAH!" The two walk through the gallery; the man later says "Modern art is SO WEIRD. RIGHT?!" and the woman, having tricked him, thinks "PHEW." In the votey aftercomic, handwritten text on a plain panel reads: "So, after drawing this I found out this basic idea has been actually studied by real economic thinkers for decades. You guys are weird."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.