These days art is more often about this shock value. It's a sham, controlled by a few very rich pretentious morons whose whole life experience can be summed up in the word 'valium'. They ran out of ideas a long time ago and can only try to grab an audience by using the worst taste possible.
From the renaissance and onward a large portion of art has always been about shock value, the whole point of 'Art' is communication, and it is often used to challenge people's sense of self, decency, morality, philosophy, politics, and anything else. It is important that it be protected even if you find it stupid, insulting, degrading, pandering, and pathetic.
There will always be a large quotient of schlock-art following the two or three people that are really doing something inventive and serious with their medium, and you will find people who are interested in making art even in pornography if you look hard enough (I used to work at a porn store).
The hope is that the people who are just interested in pandering for cash will fall by the wayside over time, which usually does happen as their work is simply not memorable.
