YesBut is it art?

The subject of last Wednesday's blog was the work by the Columbian sculptor Doris Salcedo’s entitled Shibboleth, installed in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, as part of the Unilever Series of commissions.

The work which consists of a crack running the length of the Turbine Hall floor raised some questions: "do works of "art" require high-faluting philosophic explanation, as provided by Salcedo?". If the answer to the question: "what is art?" is what the individual deems it to be. Then the individual should be left, if they so wish, to define a meaning.

In an interesting exchange of views with Chewy, she posted the comment:

When is a photograph a work of art and when is it just a snapshot? Where is the line drawn?

I've been mulling over that question over the weekend.





I took the photo on the right just as a snapshot of the stairs leading from the Thames Embankment to the Millennium Bridge and St Pauls Cathedral. Its not a very good snapshot compared to the one on the left, which I had taken on anther occasion.







The photo on the left is a "work of art". (Whether you agree is another thing!).




But the photograph is a cropped version of the first. So can a snapshot have a work of art embedded in it, even though the original photograph wasn't taken specifically to create a work of art.







The photo on the left is a "work of art". But it's the same photograph as the first!! Yes it was taken specifically to create a work of art.

So what constitutes a snapshot and what a work of art? I think a work of art is what the artist claims it to be. The only relevant question is: is it a good or bad work of art?


I'm interested to read your views. Also has the artist got to legitimise the work by providing an explanation of the "message" of the work?




I offer for your perusal works of art, with no meaningful meaning, just click to see


And finally, today is Blog Action Day. This year the target is taking action to save the environment. So come on folks, let's take action, however small, to save our beautiful planet for future generations.