How to Appreciate Sting, Val Kilmer, C-Murder, and Other Profound Artists

Advancement is a cultural condition in which an Advanced individual—i.e., a true genius—creates a piece of art that 99 percent of the population perceives to be bad. However, this is not because the work itself is flawed; this is because most consumers are not Advanced.

Now, don’t assume this means that everything terrible is awesome, or vice versa; that contrarianism has no place in Advancement theory. The key to Advancement is that Advanced artists a) do not do what is expected of them but also b) do not do the opposite of what is expected of them.
— Chuck Klosterman, Real Genius: An introduction to the highly advanced theory of Advancement

This is the best article/essay I’ve read on the internet in six months.