Modern art – problematic approaches in determining the essence of the phenomenon

The article analyzes the main approaches of philosophers, cultural critics, sociologists, and art historians to the interpretation of the phenomenon of contemporary art. Despite a considerable amount of research, scholars continue to seek to understand this phenomenon and the criteria by which it can be defined. One of the main criteria for the constitution of contemporary art is the time frame, although this is a quantitative rather than a qualitative feature. Nevertheless, this criterion makes it possible to include all artistic manifestations of the last 50-70 years in contemporary art, which allows us to define the unconditional feature of contemporary art - diversity of styles, which, unlike other characteristics, does not raise any objections. All other qualitative characteristics, such as experimentalism, relevance, and social importance, are vague and conditional. It is proved that the incredible variety of artistic trends or movements that have emerged since the late 19th century can be divided not on the basis of "pure art or rebellion within the artistic community" and "social art or artists' rebellion against social reality", but on the basis of art within the materialist-positivist worldview paradigm accepted in European civilization and art that asserts the possibility of different views of the world, in different coordinate systems, from different points of view. The turning point that essentially distinguished between academic (realistic and naturalistic) art and the art of modernism, postmodernism, and the avant-garde was the Impressionist revolt, which clearly demonstrated the possibility of a different worldview. It is found that a characteristic feature of contemporary art is the inclusion in it not only all manifestations of artistic imaginative creativity, but also what represents another meaning of the term "art" - the skillful performance of a certain type of activity. Action art falls within the habitus of the second meaning, which is the ability to perform a certain action in order to draw attention to an important (for the actionist) social problem or phenomenon. In actionism, there is often a lack of artistic images, but the presence of social action, which is characterized by a certain intentionality, a claim to drama and a noticeable shock value. Another of the main requirements for contemporary art is novelty, which becomes the basis of its branding. It is shown that a significant part of the art community, art managers, and art dealers/gallerists promote actions and conceptual works as art due to the radical reorientation of the art sphere towards maximizing profits.