But is it art?

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Gnome sweet gnome? Su Leslie 2018

“There is no abstract art.  You must always start with something.
Afterward you can remove all reality.” — Pablo Picasso

Picasso also said “we all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth”, while the American art philosopher, Arthur C. Danto described art as “embodied meaning” — apparently to distinguish Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes from actual Brillo boxes.

So is my image art? It contains a stripped-away (and colour-inverted) image of  art — a cast-glass sculpture by Gregor Kregar (Creature exhibition, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui.)

Is it whimsy? A comment on homelessness? Or is it nothing more than a collection of pixels to which you each will respond in your own way? Please let me know.

Debbie at Travel with Intent started me on this train of thought with this week’s quote-inspired challenge. If you haven’t already, pop over to see her wonderfully abstract images.

32 thoughts on “But is it art?

  1. It’s very creative! My first reaction was “wow, the colors!” I had to look at it a few seconds to get the deeper meaning (thanks for the hints!). I say yes, its art. It’s visually stunning AND made me think.

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  2. We say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It is similar with art. In your picture the colours are making a strong impression, so for me it is art. Perhaps we can express then art in the negative and state that art does not make an impression is NOT art. Best wishes! Peter

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  3. I love the colors, even though I’m not at all a fan of gnomes, especially those people display in their gardens. 🙂 It’s much more art to me than many of the “artistic” pieces I’ve seen displayed in the modern section of many museums.

    janet

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    • Totally with you on the garden gnomes!!!!
      The one I photographed is beautiful, a sort of lemon-coloured cast glass. It was in a glass case in the exhibition — I think as a kind of joke about art and what is and isn’t regarded as “precious.”

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  4. Definintely art!!! What else could it be? Love the luminous colours and the caption! Strangely enough though I´ve a slight terror of garden gnomes, don´t know why. Maybe I was once a fairy and they played some evil tricks with me. 😉 xxxxxx

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    • Gnomes are quite sinister — even the “cutesy” garden ornament kind. I find those gardens that are full of gnomes and windmills and ceramic toadstools incredibly creepy. The stuff of nightmares. 🙂

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  5. PS I keep forgetting to mention this – not sure if you have seen your ttitle in the header – but it is a little off – there is an extra parenthesis and the word number is twice – ??

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  6. I think art is defined by the creator—if YOU see it as art, then it is. It is your comment, your perspective, your creation, which makes it art. Not all art is “good” art, whatever that means, but to me, when a person takes tools to depict something whether it is nature, man-made, or an abstraction, it is art.

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