Good Art, Bad Art, and Atomic Blonde: An Analysis of the Creative Process

Powered Puff Power by Elizabeth Parker

By: Elizabeth Parker, Staff Writer

I find the question, “what makes good art good?” perplexing. I have not yet determined if it is the basic definition of good or the overwhelming definition of art that makes answering this question impossible without offending or excluding art and/or an artist. 

And yet, I still marvel at the sheer variety and genuine answers this question generates. 

Does good art mean mainstream art? Independent art? Art with a big budget? Do we weigh it by its popularity? Its medium? Its profit? Its accolades? Its affiliation? Its name? 

The definitive answer: undetermined and uncertain if the value of art will ever have a consensus. 

Lately, however, I’ve been pondering how I rank good art. Uncertain still, I’ve been paying attention to the art that inspires other art. Perhaps, this is a clue as to what good art is and does. The idea of art inspiring art is interesting to me because it seems obvious with abundant examples yet ambiguous and somewhat mysterious. 

It goes beyond the intention to reproduce that which sparked the inspiration. Rather, art inspired by art abstracts just a scene, color, tone, mood, sound from the original piece. Then, the artist re-examines that abstraction, challenges it, loves it, tortures it, embraces it until the abstraction transcends into the physical world. Finally, a new living art piece can stand on its own — separate but connected to its antecedent.

After watching Atomic Blonde, I felt this interesting feeling of inspiration. The movie hit me with its neon color scheme and its unapologetic feminine power and sexuality. There was no reduction of femininity in order to convince me that Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) can clobber, knock, headbutt, and ultimately kill five trained male assassins. And that was only one 7-minute continuous shot. So, I sat transfixed by neon colors and the integrity of the feminine identity. 

Although I took on different mediums, I set out to present my version of unapologetic feminine power and sexuality through photography and graphic design to create Powered Puff Power. Interestingly enough, I later learned that my own inspiration, Atomic Blonde, first saw its own vision for Ms. Broughton on the black and white pages of The Coldest City. 

Alas, I am stuck with no good answer as to what makes good art good. But now I’ve noticed this chain of inspiration that was forged from a graphic novel and that linked together with a Hollywood movie and my visual art. I am left wondering, perhaps, good art is that which sparks inspiration within the observer.