We trivialize the whole question of what makes something art when we refuse to accept the very real difference between art and Art. It's time to ditch Duchamp's challenge of the urinal, time to end the pretense that anything can be art. Creating it, analyzing and understanding it, judging it are extremely demanding, though immeasurably rewarding, experiences. Making the arts effortlessly accessible or good for business does nothing but cheapen them in the long run. To think that we can bully our way out of those demands, by shouting how artistic we are or how brilliant our program is, is not only to parody the original aims of the avant-garde but to announce our secession from reason.
Contemplation is still the final test of any picture.
Nashville Scene . Info Booth .