It's hard not to notice that even though this is explicitly about contemporary movements, the newest one is the Young British Artists, a 1990s phenomenon. None of them are contemporary in the way we'd generally use the term.
Of course an artist doesn't have to be classified by an ism to do vital work. But the presence of these various schools of thought in the art of the last century does seem to have indicated a general interest in art and artists, one that seems to be lacking now.
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Or what next, perhaps? You're right that none of the movements described in the article even began in the 21st century. It seems to us visual art in most of its forms has slipped badly in recent years. Of course you can find references to 21st century movements but most of them appear to have been hijacked by the obsession with computers - ie, algorithmic art, artificial intelligence art, digital art, pixel art, and many more of similar provenance.
I didn't see if tattoo art was considered as its own period but we certainly see enough examples that it probably should be. (A lot of people look as though they've been scribbled upon.)
Of the types mentioned in the Collector piece the one I have the most affection for, one that transcends all digital art and silly people projects, is land art as practiced by Andy Goldsworthy in particular, but also many others, who've taken up the challenge of presenting us with examples of nature's beauty by adiing a little twist here and there.
That's true too. When experts talk about contemporary art it's not about new ideas but rather new(ish) technologies. And not even in the creative use of those technologies, but just their being important and superior. Which makes me think of something Jaron Lanier has written:
“But the Turing test cuts both ways. You can't tell if a machine has gotten smarter or if you've just lowered your own standards of intelligence to such a degree that the machine seems smart. If you can have a conversation with a simulated person presented by an AI program, can you tell how far you've let your sense of personhood degrade in order to make the illusion work for you?"
Many people seem to get tattoos because they're bored and/or depressed, leading to a lot of unfortunate choices. Interestingly the trend unites a lot of disparate social and political crowds, but it's still a drag.
Yes, Andy Goldworthy has made some neat statements in nature, ones that might freak you out if you didn't know an artist had been at work. Some Pictures Generation artists have made interesting art. I like John Baldessari, who was a senior figure in the movement.
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