But Is It Art?
September 16, 2000
Participants: Heather McConnell, Erel Pilo, Brett Mole, Jon Reisman, Leigh Neithardt, Leslie Van Gelder
On a gorgeous fall day we took to the streets of New York to tackle the question of "What Is Art?" Framing the day around a series of galleries in SoHo we ended up using all of lower Manhattan as our tableau. Our first stop, at the Guggenheim SoHo gave us a chance to contemplate consumerism and art with Andy Warhol's Last Supper. A few doors down at the NewMuseum we looked at the art of the installation with the work of Martha Roseler.
The streets of New York provided some of the best examples of art that we saw. Whether it was the creative tag art in an outdoor parking lot on Lafayette Street, or finding a Picasso in the midst of a housing complex, we had plenty of opportunity to ask ourselves what is art and what have we been told art is.
We went from being observers to creators when we whipped out the crayons at Washington Square Park and added a little more color to the day for ourselves. In the park we encountered street performers and artists, musicians and matchstick men.
Late in the afternoon we walked through street fairs up to the School of Visual Arts before ending our day in Union Square.
We came to a fine definition of what art is. Quite simply, "Art art."
Our Situques
Suggested Readings:
Peter London, No More Secondhand Art
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
McNiff, Shaun. Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go
Web Resources