W. David Marx's book "Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century" argues that 21st-century culture has stagnated, blaming the Internet and its economies for a lack of innovation. The book cites critics like Jason Farago and Alex Ross who lament the death of monoculture and the failure of the Internet's promised diversity, while Marx himself longs for a past era of linear artistic progress defined by -isms like Realism and Cubism. However, the review criticizes Marx's framework as rooted in a 19th-century positivist fallacy, noting that art history has never been a clean linear progression and that overlooked artists—such as Hilma af Klint and Hector Hyppolite—have always complicated the canon.
This review matters because it challenges a prominent, nostalgic narrative about cultural decline by pointing out its blind spots. The reviewer argues that the supposed "fractured" state of contemporary culture is actually a result of greater inclusion, as women and people of color now participate in art and criticism with relative freedom for the first time. By exposing the flaws in Marx's and Farago's arguments—including their omission of this demographic shift—the article reframes the conversation about innovation, suggesting that pluralism, not stagnation, defines the current moment.