Modern art is best viewed as a typical con game. The “artist”, is the confidence man, and the “afficianados” are the marks. Just like any con game, the con man plays upon the conceits and emotional needs of the mark, and offers an illusory product or service that the mark will desire. In this case, the artist allows the afficianados to believe that they have some highly refined taste that separates them from the common man, because they are able to detect the artistic value in the apparent trash that the con artist is hawking. Also, like in any other typical con game, the con man doesn’t take the mark’s money by force, they simply set up a situation favorable to themselves where the mark will willingly fork over the money.
This is a somewhat unique con though, because there seems to be a never-ending supply of marks, who will never realize or admit they’ve been conned, so the value of the “art” doesn’t evaporate like most fraudulent products. They can resell the crap to another mark and even make a profit!
Viewed through this lens, it’s no wonder that a professional con artist like Yoko was able to weasel her way into dominating the life of a succeptible mark like John Lennon. It was probably a very simple job for her to detect his subconscious yearnings and play upon them until he truly believed that he was not being taken advantage of by her. It really would be no different than the way that pimps convince prostitutes that they really need them and that the pimp is doing them a favor by taking 90% of their earnings and abusing them.
Pretty much my views on the subject. Art ran out of ideas more than one hundred years ago. Modern artists couldn't duplicate the fantastic works by artists from centuries previous, so they had to come up with some kind of gimmick. Abstract art emerged (or oozed to the surface), and we're stuck with it. You're supposed to look at those globs of paint on the wall and see beauty...or something. If you don't, you're just an uncultured, troglodyte philistine who has no appreciation of the finer things in life.
However, the artist and his ally in crime, the art critic, will tell you what is good and what is not. Please have your checkbook open and be ready to pay the millions this dreck er art is worth.