Day Two

I was asked recently in regards to this performance, "But is it Art?" This has been a ubiquitous question in the creative world for something like 100 years now. I have spent much time thinking on this issue, and it took me a while to get a solid answer that took into mind all of my gut feelings and intellectual contradictions. To answer it we need to break it into two parts. First, "What is Art?" and then, "Is this piece Art?"

Great tomes have been written in response to the first question by much smarter people than I who have spent even more time pondering the minutiae of the subject. I have read a fair number of these and find them all quite convincing. Artists often form their own grand systems to work within and trying to judge their work in terms of a standard for "Art" can be challenging. When experiencing a work of art, I always try to go in with an attitude that I will like it--I would much rather like it than hate it! This has made me very open-minded and has also led me to have a passion for what most people consider "weird" art and music. It just gets to me in a way that narrowly defined "Art" does not. Therefore, I have developed a very broad personal definition for "Art," which is, "that which is created by an artist." When I discovered the following quote by Joseph Beuys, my philosophy came full circle. He said, "Everyone is an artist." With that my whole world opened up! I no longer judge things as "Art" or "not Art" because I see everything as Art. I instead focus the question is it "good" Art or "bad" Art. This is a much touchier topic, and it is something unique to each individual.

So, yes, clearly I see this as "Art," and, secondly, while I see it as "good Art," you will have to answer this question yourself.