Heard someone say a coffee stain on a napkin is 'better than most modern art' and it got me thinking

I was sitting at a diner on Broadway last Tuesday and this guy next to me pointed at a napkin with a ring of old coffee on it and said that. His friend laughed but then they actually got into a debate about whether accidental art counts as real art or not. One side says the beauty of it is that there's NO intention involved, it's just pure chance and that makes it more honest. The other side argues that calling everything 'art' waters down what actual artists spend years learning to do. I honestly see both points but I lean more towards the idea that finding art in everyday messes is what makes life interesting. What do you all think? Is a lucky spill on pavement or a cracked mug really on the same level as something someone made on purpose?

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foster.ruby11d ago

Agreed with the guy at the diner until I dropped my toast jam side down and tried to call it abstract expressionism. My roommate still brings it up and says the only thing I made that day was a sticky mess. Honestly though there's something great about how a dried coffee ring looks like a tiny planet or a muddy tire track depending on the light. Just don't tell the artists who spent years learning color theory that their work is equal to my morning spill. I've got enough guilt over the stove burner I melted a Tupperware lid on last month.