Saturday, November 1, 2008

So, why is this art?

The other day, while I was at the Contemporary, I picked up a one-page gallery guide titled, "So, why is this art?" This intrigued me and is proving interesting material for thought, so I plan to respond to it here. Thus, I will be exploring some of the eight key issues over the next week or so. Here is a brief synopsis of the introduction.

Humans have created art through the ages, but various cultures have defined it differently. Throughout history, the nature of art has been debated. Today, most experts agree that there is not one single definition of art, but that it encompasses a variety of ideas, approaches, and qualities.

When someone asks "Why is this art?" they are asking a very complicated, but important question. They may be wondering about the value of an artwork or they might be responding to qualities in an artwork that they don't like or understand. The real question they may be asking is "What is art?"

...It is our hope that this discussion will prompt you to think about what you see in the gallery and enable you to discover the ways contemporary art reflects the issues and ideas of our times.

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