Is This Art?

This is an excellent example of (legal) social engineering where the prankster preys upon what people are trained to think upon something. Case in point, the average gallery visitor is trained to treat art with a special esteem. It should be revered, regarded as breathtakingly sacred, and worth contemplating upon.

So what happens when one curates the mundane like these folks here do? What if we proclaim signs, bathroom mirrors, and chairs to be art? Furthermore, what if we were to tell the casual observer that these everyday objects were valuable? The end result, as this film shows, is that people experience horror upon treating this art as nothing special.

Now to answer the question, yes I believe all of that is art. In fact, many times I've thought about enacting this social experiment too. You see, from another angle, I understand the importance of industrial design and that some engineer has spent good time creating objects that appeal to our senses and will therefore be used everyday.

I believe art is about how you approach something. To know a chair is a chair is not art, for you are reducing it to a simple abstraction. An art deco bar stool that was produced by a master craftsman is art though because we can contemplate the human spirit that went into its creation.

There's no contradiction here. It is all about how you approach it, in the end.

Your Ad Here