Art?

EDIT: The pictures shown got a little chopped off. Don't worry, you still get the same effect. Trust me. You aren't missing anything. I'll do my best to make them smaller in the future.

Okay. This might offend some people, but not anyone I know personally that would actually be reading this. I think. Slash hope. Oh well. Here goes:

What, exactly, are the guidelines for art? In my Late 20th Century Art class, we've been talking about artists like Mark Rothko:

and Jackson Pollock: 

I fail to see how these men can call themselves artists and become known world-wide when I could produce both of these just as well. I get that Rothko has a way with colors and knows how to create beautiful and sometimes scary combinations. I also get that Jackson Pollock was revolutionary in that he changed the axis of painting (he laid the canvas on the floor and let gravity work it's magic). But in all seriousness: WHY? I just don't get it. After seeing my first Rothko at the National Gallery of Art on the Mall in DC, I decided that I should start making artwork. I started making artwork out of the left over food on my plate, random doodles on class notes, things like that. I would mention to my friends how my artwork should totally be in a modern art museum. None of them believed me and they all mocked me. 

Now, of course I'm joking about my "artwork" going into a museum. Kind of. Can someone please explain to me why these guys (and the COBRA artists for that matter) are so well-known? My professor goes on and on and on about these guys, and I get the basic themes he's going on about, but it still infuriates me. He talks about how some artists (mainly the COBRA artists) wanted to deskill the art of painting and make it so the public realized that painting and art is something everyone can do. But why didn't more people from the general public start getting their "art" in museums and becoming famous. COBRA was a fairly exclusive group, why didn't they let more people in?

So this whole rant was a build up to this, which I hope works, because I don't really know how to do links on this thing... Anyway, the video I just linked is a performance art piece by Vito Acconci. Basically, Acconci is trying to break down the "Fourth Wall," or, the wall between the audience and the viewer. First of all, the linked video is super creepy. My friend and I sat in this class of about 100ish giggling through the entire thing because it was so awkward and creepy. This same friend then wondered aloud, "Would this be as creepy if it was Robert Pattinson?" and we came to the conclusion that, yes, it would be just as creepy, just a little more pleasant because Robert Pattinson is freaking gorgeous. In my own, humble opinion. 

Okay. I need to go do a little reading and work on a paper now. Just an FYI, not all of my posts will be this long or this semi-intelligent ranting. I'll try to stay away from going all fan-girl on things, but it's unavoidable in some situations. 

love,

m