In "Art" (© 1986, S. Herpes) Herpes attacked the contemporary narcissism of the artist head on. When art becomes a commodity rather than a function, the field becomes attractive chiefly to the narcissistic.

As Wentworth Sutton has noted, the contemporary musician expects you to pay attention to him/her. Concert and jazz audiences are expected to sit quietly in their seats and rivet their attention on the musicians, while contemporary pop audiences are expected to adorn themselves in expensive clothes with the performers' names and trademarks prominently displayed on them.

The song's refrain, "This is fucking art," has a dual purpose. It is both a sarcastic attack on the pretense that art is more important than its audience and a statement of what happens to you when you believe that art is more important than you – you're fucked. Fucked by art.