The Art of Collecting Lightbulbs

Before reading this chapter, I did not think that having a collection could be considered art. It never struck me as a form of art. But art, "for some is making, for other it is having." Immediately after reading this chapter, I started to think if there was anything I collected. The first thing that came into my mind was snow globes. I love collecting snow globes. Any time a family member, distant relative, or friend goes somewhere I have not, been I always ask them to pick up a snow globe for me. Right now, I have over 45 snow globes. I don't think that I would be a "snow globe enthusiast" as Hugh Francis Hicks was with lightbulbs, and I certainly don't think I would go and steal snow globes as he stole light bulbs. Before this chapter, it was a simple hobby, but calling it an art brings a different light to it. Maybe it's not really art. I'm not putting them on public display, at least not now. Who knows what the future might bring?

The Art of Making Art Without Lifting a Finger

This chapter brings a very question important to my attention and to all that read it. What is art and what should we consider art? It's a coincidence that I read this chapter shortly after STAC discussed if Pollock should be considered an artist. Art doesn't necessarily need to have a particular meaning behind it but there should be some meaning behind it or a specific intention by the artist. Ray Johnson's constant love, for the lack of a better word, of the number 13 most likely has a meaning behind it. It's not known to us, his friends, and maybe not even to himself. We won't find out now because he's no longer living but chances are if asked why he loved the number 13 so much, he could justify it. A lot of the process of considering what is art is the artist being able to justify it being a work of art. If you can justify it, then perhaps it is art. Sometimes even a work justified as art may not be a work of art. The "process" of what we consider art is very complicated and not set in stone because there are so many different forms of art, it's impossible to create a universal system to call a work art.

The Art of Having a Lofty Perspective

"So how to define the beautiful?" How does one really describe what beauty is? This chapter obviously speaks a lot about beauty, both in life and art. People have attempted to create a rational answer, like the Greeks, but is there really one? Who is to say what is beautiful and what isn't? Beauty is really a social construct. Beauty changes over time and it changes depending on where you are in the world. Society could easily change the meaning of the word beauty. What is beautiful now probably wasn't considered beautiful a hundred years ago. Our version of beauty, as far as fashion goes, leans more on the scandalous side a hundred years ago. As far as beauty in nature goes, it depends on the person and the time. Some aspects of nature are lovely to some and atrocious to others. But then again, who is one to decide what in nature is or is not beautiful?