In reputable spaces of contemporary art, we see works presented and showcased that include, among others, random or organized piles of construction or other materials, old or new common utilitarian objects, or even actual trash simply placed on the floor, paintings with a clearly deliberate absence not only of perceivable form and content but also of any trace of color or other intervention, even works where the written or spoken expression of the artistic idea substitutes the presence of the work itself, photojournalistic images, visibly unartful videos of personal opinions or political events, and so forth.

It is therefore understood that these are there for us to perceive them as works of art representative of our era. So what is happening and why? Are these indeed works of art, in the well-known sense of the term, or are they a fraud, or a delusion, or some other form of expression that has replaced art? Perhaps the king is naked and the courtiers silent? Maybe, just maybe, we have entered a new phase of cultural expression that is not comparable to the old and thus, for many, difficult to decode? Has the end of art come? The end of history? The end of the world?