White elephant art, explains Farber, is defined by ‘yawning production of overripe technique shrieking with preciosity, fame, ambition. ‘ White elephant art is what you get when an artist sets out to make a masterpiece in the grand European tradition and inevitably falls short.
Herein, what is White elephant art vs termite art?
“White Elephant Art vs.
Bloated, pretentious, white elephant art lacks the economy of expression found in the greatest works of termite art, according to Farber. Farber saw termite art as spontaneous and subversive, going in bold new directions, and white elephant art as formal and tradition-bound.