people tend to conflate the question “what is art?” with the question “what is good art?” — Pfhorrest
Can anyone think of other cases where being a kind of thing at all is conflated with being a good example of that kind of thing? — Pfhorrest
I’d say that things can be nourishing to a greater or lesser degree, so some things can be better or worse as sources of nourishment go. Something that’s not very nourishing, or negatively nourishing, is not very good, or actively bad, for use as food. — Pfhorrest
I think anything can be called art and that framing something this way is merely an invitation to view it aesthetically, which is a beautiful thing really. — praxis
But here is something I find interesting. A statue by Rodin, found in a building site is still art. But Carl Andre's Equivalent VIII found in a building site is just a pile of bricks. — Tom Storm
the act of curating something and hanging it up in a space for art makes it art. The question of merit is separate. — Tom Storm
Can you explain more fully what you mean by “negatively nourishing” and “actively bad”?
— Leghorn
Like something poisonous, something that reduces your health rather than preserving it. — Pfhorrest
Although the way I would phrase more or less the same idea is that “framing” something makes it art: presenting it to an audience for their consideration, making it the content of a communicative act. It’s not so much it being in any particular place that makes it art, except inasmuch as being somewhere indicates that it is being used as art, and it’s being used as art that makes something art, just like being used as a chair makes something a chair. — Pfhorrest
More or less yes. — Pfhorrest
Provided it's used by the right people, the ones who are in the position to determine whether something is art or not, and whether it's good art or not. — baker
You could frame a painting done by a naive artist, put it into a fancy gallery, and it still wouldn't be art proper. — baker
I disagree completely. It could even just be pinned to their mother’s refrigerator and it would still be art. That says nothing, however, above the quality of it as art, whether it is good art, good at doing what art is to do. Even if it fails miserably at doing what art should do, it’s still art; it’s just bad art. — Pfhorrest
You're an American, aren't you? If you were raised in Europe, you'd learn early on to distinguish between art and mere craft (and kitsch). — baker
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