Читать книгу What Artists Do - Leonard Koren - Страница 18

18

1. Determine what art is

Almost everyone agrees that artists make art, but few

people agree on what, exactly, art is. Art continually

appears in new and previously unimagined guises. The

art of today may bear little resemblance to the art of

the past. As a consequence, “art” is a word that is often

intentionally left undefined.

How then, or rather who, determines what art is and

isn’t? For instance, who decides what is exhibited in art

museums and art galleries? In effect it is those who

make the art, i.e., artists.³ With every new artwork, an artist brings a new manifestation of art into existence. However, if this new manifestation deviates too far from previous ones, there may be a problem. The artist then has to persuade others that what they have brought into existence is, indeed, art. One artist who expertly did this—got others to buy into his unusual conception of art—was Marcel Duchamp (1887–1969).