Broken Leg

Life Begins

I am currently sitting on a tea house in Bucharest and loving every second of it. University is over and done with and this is where life begins. I'm quite contempt with the way things are going now. It's a rough period and i understand that it'll be difficult to get something going the way i want it but i am too proud to give up and too stubborn to admit that it may be impossible.

In this last week, i met some of the most amazing people, through my girlfriend. I met her canto teacher's boyfriend which just happened to love my Ambassadors and thought: "Let's shoot a movie on this!". When i told him i had plans to shoot myself shaving my head, he went ballistic and so the madness began. We met on and off and discussed lighting and setting up the space for the first show. FYI the images will be set up on the music stands they use in opera concerts so ... there's a win. So, we got to talking and that and set the dates for the shoot. My Defender is currently having an open heart surgery over the weekend so i had to get the Toyota. We shot for 40 hours in a 48 hour time frame and were only fueled by ... well ... momentum. Because as soon as things started slowing down, we fell like flies, dead tired.



Anyway, we shot a 90min experimental film which (fuck it, i am ruining the surprise for Monday - just a good heads up to those who read my blog) will be shown in sync with the classicl music. Each aria of the concerto had a frame thought up which pretty much rocks. It includes me almost falling out of a boat a few times, jumping out of trees, getting my head shaved half naked in a poppy field and many other insane ideas that our tired brains managed to duct tape together. The film will then be a full part of the show, and will be traveling around as a whole. Now all we have to do is sit tight and wait to become famous ... This is how things work, right?




Finance wise, student life is not yet over. I am broke beyond belief and am trying to figure out things ... University is gone and so is all the free equipment. This means investment as well as a great big hit in my already precariously balanced budget (strapping a ridiculously expensive camera to the side door of the Land Cruiser and driving around 60mph also put in a new light the idea of bankruptcy in case the camera fell off. No my bankruptcy however - but the faces of the people we overtook - worth every penny). But you need to spend money to make money and i suspect that this is the part where i have to spend ... That's it for now.

An Evening of Light and Sound

In addition to the summer exhibitions that will take place, we're adding another one-night-only event hosted by the Bucharest Operetta. Together with Dana and her colleagues we will be having an evening of photography and classical canto. More news as we organize the event. It would probably take place sometime between the 1st and the 8th of June.

Old habits die hard II

Spring means sun. Sun means starting my camera obscura series. Again. I did this little test in my room today, out of focus and underexposed and digital. But out comes the Wista tomorrow for a proper shot and the continuation of last year's series.

Shotgun blowjobs, deadlines and art

I've always imagined laying hidden in a bunker after a nuclear bomb has blasted the crap out of everything on this planet. And years after the explosion, i would open the door and smell the fresh air. This is how i feel today. Liberated from the chains of the final paper.

After being one sad song away from deepthroating the barrel of a shotgun for a bit under a month, things are starting to pick up. I've got a shooting lined up, I'm getting to start my printing process and it feels like there's reason to leave my burrow and get out in the world. Not everything is peachy, win some lose some. But for now, we've won a battle. Let's enjoy it like Napoleon. Because just like him, we don't know shit about what's coming.

In other news, i found a guy who does the kind of things that i dream, or somewhat. It's a bit strange and uncomfortable to see the deranged stuff you dream floating on your screen. Kind of makes you want to ... do nothing and stare for hours. Checked. Here's some of his stuff. I'm not a sculptor, but i can say that his stuff is at least worth watching, if not even buying - if i was ridiculously rich. Rankin style rich. He really is something because i think we can all agree I'm not that big on complimenting people.

Kris Kuksi, ladies and gentlemen:

Two generations

These are some of the test shots for my final work. The finals will be very different, however this run was quite important. These are, again, just tests.

The Birds

This is a message in a bottle saying:

"I am fine. Until the 29th, my room will be the only thing i will see. And two recovery days after that - same goes for people."

The Twisted Project

No time. Here's what i'm doing, but more than one face. On canvas. Bye. Stop.

Second batch of experiments

Here's the second batch of liquid emulsion experiments, exposed on Friday and left to dry until today. I shall try to manufacture a system of keeping them straight (since they get really wobbly after being dunked in water for about an hour and a half) and if i can't manage (which i probably won't) i shall start exposing on artist canvases. But for now, here's the tests

Her space

art·ist (är'tĭst) n.

One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts. A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill.

One, such as an actor or singer, who works in the performing arts.

One who is adept at an activity, especially one involving trickery or deceit: a con artist.

[French artiste, from Old French, lettered person, from Medieval Latin artista, from Latin ars, art-, art.]

Bogdan

trust (trst)
n.

1. Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.

2. Custody; care.

3. Something committed into the care of another; charge.

4.

a. The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one: violated a public trust.

b. One in which confidence is placed.

5. Reliance on something in the future; hope.

6. Reliance on the intention and ability of a purchaser to pay in the future; credit.

Adelaida

mem·o·ry (mm-r)

n. pl. mem·o·ries

1. The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience.

2. The act or an instance of remembering; recollection: spent the afternoon lost in memory.

3. All that a person can remember: It hasn't happened in my memory.

4. Something remembered: pleasant childhood memories.

5. The fact of being remembered; remembrance: dedicated to their parents' memory.

6. The period of time covered by the remembrance or recollection of a person or group of persons: within the memory of humankind.

The Ruins

This weekend, my friend Bogdan and i decided to go back to our roots. We've packed our bags,checked train times and we're off to track down the capital of the Dacic people, who inhabited these parts around two thousand years ago.

It'll be a change from the ordinary. No trucks, no fuel, no transport other than walking from the train station to the ruins. 50 kilometers over two days. To assist, Ionut was kind enough to provide us with detailed military maps of the area, just to have a look at the roads and such.

We hope it'll be fine and we'll be back with loads of stuff to tell you, as well as pictures and articles - perhaps even a new project that might be born over this period.

Gotterdamerrung

The days went by and it's time to go once again. Few days back i went with a couple of mates to what will be my final second year project. I could have photographed my feet and passed. They need the money and they'll pass anyone regardless of how useless they are. But hey, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.



We drove, for almost three hours i might add - in fairly off road conditions which Luiza didn't seem very fond of, to get to an abandoned monastery. Chiajna.

The building began in 1774 and was finished somewhere between 1786 and 1890. It was never "baptized" and thus it's believed to be cursed. Built in a neoclasic way, the arches stand a testament of the craftsmanship of people in that day. It's a beautiful building, 43 meters long, 18 meters wide and other measurements as well, with 1-2 meter thick walls. In it's time it was one of the most imposing buildings.



We photographed it from every angle and here's some sample shots done by my friend Luiza and myself. The "good" pictures were shot on 5x4 and are currently awaiting processing.



It's believed to house a gallery underneath (probably like any ruin, it must have galleries and a treasure. Pirates of the Carribean got everyone excited about this), which even our late dictator sought out. He brought drills and dug 30 foot deep holes to find the treasure himself. When that failed he decided to demolish the building but something distracted him, like a shiny coin perhaps, and he forgot.



The main tower collapsed during the 1977 earthquake (which reminds me, we had a 5,3 Richter scale earthquake yesterday. How cool is that?)but the building still stands tall. Uninterested and narrow minded politicians will let it, as they will the forts and most of the great monuments we have, be ravaged by time for some passive profit they might gain. Or just lack of interest and respect. Leaving this great place, i remembered that we live in a country where the blind lead the blind. Or the idiots lead bigger idiots in masses. Who have no idea of the beautiful city they live in.

A new age dawns

After a long waiting period I finally got most of the items I needed. The camera obscura project is well on its way now. I am shooting the Wista most likely and have constructed a combination of thin lenses to try and sharpen the images on the wall. This morning I did a test with it where I exposed for about three hours, which came out quite under exposed. I scanned it in Flexcolor and modified what was there to be modified and got a decent image.



The sharpness is really amazing. Now I just hope I will manage to get everything sorted out in time and have good images before the B:fest Arts Festival at the end of May. I will. I guess. I shot it on ISO 100 black and white sheet film at F16 more or less and with 190 minutes exposure. As it turns out it's quite under exposed and thus I would need to have a 6 or even twelve-hour exposure to get it right.


(100% blow up. The color ones will be mind blowing :) )

I am insisting on the closed aperture as I would like to have all of the items in the room in focus and not just the wall. I am still working on it and will have a little bit of a head ache because I am not quite sure that black and white and color films behave in the same fashion at long exposure (i.e.: lose their sensitivity with the increasing of the exposure time) or if there is any way I can manage to get out of the room. I am considering having a pin-up curtain to get out of the rooms I photograph - and not be trapped there for hours and hours.

Regardless of it, the exposure times are going to be horrific and I will need to find people who don't need their room for the whole day. Volunteers?

Mail me at rt@4x4offroads.com (Near London, Paris or Bucharest please)

How to talk in front of Members of the British Parliament - Sipson Reloaded

To begin with, i went to Sipson again and again, in the hope of understanding the situation trying to best picture it in my series for my Paris exhibition. After mailing Mrs Shilling, the NOTRAG press officer the previous day, rather late at night, i got a phone call from her early in the morning. And i mean Early. With capital "e". She presented the situation, just like in a mail, but was also disappointed about me not taking into a account the villages of Harlington and Harmondsworth, which were part of the Heathrow expansion plan - due to be either demolished or very affected by the noise, light and air pollution. I did manage to gather my strength to explain to her that i only heard of Sipson because everywhere it's the only one mentioned and finally we agreed on my need to research more and involve the other two villages in my project.

On this particular visit, i was supposed to meet with Mr. Jack Clark, oldest man in Sipson and probably in the region. Mr. Clark is 97 years old and has been living in Sipson longer than any of my parents have been on this planet, as have most of the inhabitants of the Sipson - Harmondsworth - Harlington area. Due to ridiculous tube delays (by ridiculous i mean one hour - give or take) and an accident between two women (kinda saw that coming there) in an intersection, my being in Sipson at 12 turned to arriving there pissed off and dreadfully late around 13:47 - in front of Mr. Clark's door. Missed the appointment. I did go to visit Joe, which is a friend of Steve's, who owns the car repair shop. We met last times and were talking about his Land Cruiser and he agreed to the picture.



Steve and his wife live just in front of Mrs. Davies' house and the Post Office.

I got to the butcher's as well, who was quite delighted about me taking his picture for the series and was quite cooperative. Like everyone in the villages, he's a friendly person, always happy and optimistic. "D'you want me to get one of my big cutting knives to take the picture with?". Not sure if he meant it or not, but by the time i was getting my head around it, he showed up with a huge cutting knife, point at which i got the hint that i shouldn't be hanging around there too long. I liked the place, and the bloke, but i'd rather not get on the wrong side of anyone holding one of these objects in either hands.



On with the show, i ended up photographing Linda McCutcheon, who is the secretary of the NOTRAG association. She was very helpful, showing me the house and everything and letting me choose my images carefully. it seemed quite nice of her to be so patient, and her image is perhaps a bit different than the rest of the series, simply because she was as well. She will be coming up later on in the story.



I obviously took Mrs. Shiling's advice and walked all the way to Harmondsworth. It was a fair 20 minute walk to the place and i didn't know anyone there. Felt like a deja-vu for when i first went to Sipson. These experiences keep me alive, and confused. I couldn't manage to find windows with protest banners and what not, because most of the village will still be standing but will be affected by the pollution issues. I managed to get to the pub, looking for a beer, where there was a lad in his twenties playing Fifa 2008 on the PS3. His name was Sam Dyllon and, together with his family, he owned The Five Bells pub, which was some hundred years old - but very very nice. One of the best ones i've seen yet. We started to chat and i son found out that i had gone into the safe side of Harmondsworth, which presented little interest for me, as far as the series goes.




In the evening i was invited to participate to a meeting of the associations against the runway (which i can tell you first hand have quite a lot of members) and John McDonnel, Member of the British Parliament. Somehow i understood there were to be more than one member, or there actually were and didn't speak, i can't figure it out. Perhaps it was just in my head.

Moving on now, the MP took the microphone and started to present the situation, in light of the recent announcement that the runway has been given kind of a green light but not quite. People took the stand and said what's on their minds, some of them presenting the situation while others just condemned the Government. I was surprised to see so many people at the Botwell Social Hall, in Hayes fighting for this cause, and i actually felt like there was something i can show through my series.

At some point into the discussion, a lady takes the microphone and starts talking: "I was contacted by someone who was a photographer today and is working in Paris, who only knew about Sipson...". The person that took the stand was Mrs Shilling, and the person being put in front of the firing squad, would be yours truly. I experienced a funny concoction of feelings, from being annoyed because my whole idea of trying to help has been neglected in the favor of this useless detail, which one trip to the village could obviously not have solved, to the most creative one - take the microphone yourself and explain. Somehow i couldn't process the fact that it might backfire.

So as Mr McDonnel was handing out the mic from one person to another, i suddely notice my left hand raising up, despite my better judgement which urged me to stay put and keep my trap shut. So when the MP sees me, he asks me to come in front of the room, present myself (which i obviously forgot to do) and state my claim.

"Very few of you know me. I am the person Mrs. Shilling was talking about so i consider it best to start with an apology for not knowing exactly how and what was going on..." I presented the idea and the series, and well i can tell you that being stared at by a few hundred people who don't really understand why you're talking at all, and the MP who seemed quite interested of what i have to say, was not a pleasing feeling. I felt like my 15 seconds of fame were going away, and people starting to check for their tomatoes, pitch forks and other useful items - the idea dawned on me. What idea? The idea, the grand finale, how i was going to get out of this mess: "V for Vendetta"

I remembered a quote that V said to Evey, which concluded my speech:

"I want in my series to make a social comment, portaying people and what they stand to loose of the runway is built, as well as try to send the message that PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR GOVERNMENTS BUT THAT GOVERNMENTS SHOULD ALWAYS BE AFRAID OF THEIR PEOPLE". This was the point where McDonnel smiled, the crowd applauded until i took my seat (which only happened once or twice more during the 30-40 people that spoke) and i was glad to have gotten out of the bloody mess that i got myself into by not staying put. Still, a lovely evening, epecially in light of the discussions we had after the meeting was over, as well as the promises for future help of NOTRAG on my side. It's a good will thing.

Leave you lot to your lives - cheers.

Strenght in Numbers

This is the village of Sipson. Some of you may have heard of the place. It's the little village to be torn down for the build of the third Heathrow runway. the plan includes the demolishing of more than 1000 homes, majority of which are inhabited by members of the comunity age 60+.

For Cherie's art festival in Paris, where i was invited to exhibit a series of my choice regarding crisis as life experience, i chose to follow up this subject. Perhaps in a little different way from the journalistic algorithm, i chose to portray people in their particular environments. Spaces and objects that they will lose when and if the runway is to be built. I'm not judging or taking sides, i'm just making a comment on how people are linked to their homes, of how an outside danger gathers the comunity together, of the lenghts that someone will go to protect his sanctuary and, at the end of the day, of what happens when people with will power stand up to their government.

Last hundred meters

The website has been put up

http://www.thirdperson.co.cc/

It's only days until the private view of the exhibition, and the feeling that we still have at least two incompetents exhibiting is still present. Slightly worrying, as this is to be a positive event for everyone. For those of you who got involved: "good job". For those of you who didn't: "Fuck you".

The Third Person

Here is a preview image from the upcoming photography exhibition that we are preparing. On Consumerism and other Demons...

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

Damien Hirst’s “The physical impossibility of death
In the mind of someone living”


Art has developed throughout time at the same pace as human evolution. From the cave drawings in Africa dating back 25 000 years to modernism and postmodernism, art has been shaped and has helped shape the world we live in. Furthermore it has been a source of infinite questions and variable and uncertain answers regarding its use, its influence on culture and way of life, its quality and manner of appreciation. Perhaps its slippery and uncertain nature, permanently evolving, changing and contradicting it’s self has left most people in the position of not being able to define it and an entity.

Damien Hirst, born 1965, is a British artist who works with installations. He went to study at the Goldsmith College, during which time he had a series of exhibitions, of which “Freeze” was one of the most noted. One of his first big breakthroughs was an installation entitled “A thousand years” which featured a rotting cow’s head, a number of flies and an insect-o-cutor. The whole purpose was the creation of a small life cycle, where the tiny insects would fly around the cow’s head, lay eggs which would hatch, then new insects fly around the steel and glass box, reproduce and lay eggs, after which they would finally run into the insect-o-cutor and die. This work was an instant hit, being bought by Charles Saatchi, who later on was the financial support for the artist and his creations. His work has been focused mostly on death, not as much as the event it’s self but the side effects of ending life, the possibilities that arise from death, the exploration of the body and the anti-thesis of life and death. This installation, together with “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living” and a few others comprised the body of work that would bring him the Turner Prize in 1995, after he was nominated for the second time.

Installations of the kind that Hirst uses have been introduced sometime before the middle of the 20th century, as part of the Fluxus movement, which was a subcategory of conceptual art. Following Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” statement, art has suffered from a series of modifications, of which, the most important was the fact that, as Le Witt states in his “Sentences of Conceptual Art”:

“Rational judgements repeat rational judgements. Illogical judgements lead to new experiences”

What the quote was trying to emphasise at that point in time, was the fact that the long period of descriptive art has ended, and now artists have entered a world where the idea is king. No longer will there be need for the perfection in manufacturing the work of art as much as there will be a demand for ideas that will dazzle, confuse and entertain people with the use of new materials, new processes and last but not least, new rules.

One of the most prominent of Damien Hirst’s work has been “The impossibility of death in the mind of somebody living” which featured a 17-foot tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. Like most of his works, it was displayed as a vitrine, trying to isolate the concept of art into an airtight space that would be timeless, and although available for anyone’s analysis, unavailable for a thorough understanding. This would refer to works like “Love’s paradox”, “Lost love” or “Mother and Child divided”. “The impossibility of death in the mind of someone living” was unveiled at the Saatchi Gallery in 1992, together with “A thousand years”.

Coming from a conceptual art background, Hirst tried to impress with this first attempt that critics called “pickled shark” or “£50 000 for fish without chips” but reactions, as any conceptual art object would get, were very contradictory. A simple and basic analysis of the name would lead you to only think that, because of the position of the shark, it’s wide-open mouth and the fact that it’s in a tank, recreating the natural environment that the predator lives in, forced the viewer to take into account the impossible probability of the beast still being alive.

Now the first problem that comes into mind is “What did the artist actually do?” It is quite obvious that he didn’t actually catch the animal, nor built the cage, because as the artist himself stated, Charles Saatchi funded the whole project. So, since the whole project was fully and undeniably dependent on technology and outside people and Hirst had very little involvement in the actual production of the piece, can he be considered artist only for being the father of the unusual idea? Also, another point of view on the name would be the complex insight that Hirst has on death, and the underlining of the fact that humanity still cannot fully understand the act of dying and the events that occur with the person after death. Like most of His work, the names that Hirst gives to his installations are strange and uncommon, forcing the viewer to find a connection between the work and the name (This was also the case with his first exhibition, Freeze, where the work presented were a bunch of coloured dots named after chemical elements of medicinal pills from every and any drug store).

“The impossibility of death in the mind of someone living” was in it’s self a simple but effective concept. The vitrines that have by now become his trademark housed a rare sight for an ordinary person. To some extent, the work’s design can pretty much be the key to it’s immense success. The fact that he decided to use the limitating concept of vitrines somewhat traces back to J. Beuys and his own vitrine installations in the 1960’s. Quite curious that they should use the same installation methods, even if Hirst’s are far more radical, since Beuys was the person who stated the fact that “Anyone can be an artist”. From his exhibitions and actions in the art world a first conclusion of Hirst’s art would be that it has the tendency to follow the Fluxus concepts, of which Beuys was a prominent figure, if not the most prominent one, which stated in their manifesto that they would:

“ Promote living art, anti-art, promote non-art reality to be grasped by all people, not only critics, dilettantes and professionals”

Why should a container with a pickled shark be a form of art? And immediately the anti-question arises: “Why not?”. The main purpose of art is to transmit feelings, informations, thoughts or fears. Perhaps some artists used the opportunity of being able to work with a practically infinite range of media to send out strong reactions through visually shocking the viewer. Some would state that this activity is not art, but then what is it? In the world of conceptual art, paintings like the ones by On Kawara, of dates and newspaper clippings or Mel Ramsden’s black painting entitled “Secret painting” are art. So can the shark. Perhaps there have been trends throughout the 20th century that suppressed some form of expressing oneself through a certain media in favour of another, but, as years went on, the survival of each current would be judged by its quality in the final art product and its ability to reinvent and question its self in order to keep public interest at a constant rate and not fade away.

“The impossibility of death in the mind of someone living” cannot but be considered a piece of art. Looking at the idea of putting the tiger shark in the vitrine, I tried to find an explanation. One of the interesting things is why have a tiger shark in the tank? Tiger-sharks are not common at all in the UK area, mostly being found in the southern hemispheres, off the coasts of Central and South America, Africa, Asia and northern half of Australia. UK’s coasts are home to about 21 species of sharks of which hammerheads, porbeagle (which is the most common), blue shark and rarely Great Whites. The tiger shark used for Damien Hirst’s installation was caught off the coast of Australia by a contracted fishing boat and shipped over to England for the price of, then, £6000. Research into the shark’s lifespan and habits showed an interesting fact. Because it is such an aggressive predator, it has the tendency to attack almost anything, resulting in accidental swallowing of car parts, fire extinguishers and various other man-made items, which led to it being called “the ocean’s trashcan”. Now the question that arises from this fact is whether Hirst was aware of this feature of the animal when he contracted the boat to fish it out from the other side of the globe.

Another reason for choosing this particular species could have been its sheer size. The fact that the viewer, who was in a very formal and limitating space ( that of the gallery ), was put face to face with one of ocean’s deadliest animals, who survived for tens of thousands of years because of its simple but effective nature, basic understanding of the world around it and pure and extreme aggressivity, could have been another logical reason for the choice. It somewhat resembles a simple explanation of the world we live in, where one feels safe mainly because he encloses possible threats and dangers in a sealed container.

It is quite obvious, as previously mentioned, that Hirst made exhibiting in vitrines a trademark. Now we are faced with the question “Why vitrines? And why not some other ways of exhibiting such objects?”. Not going away from “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living” we turn towards some of his vitrine-based exhibits that did not contain liquids, exhibits like “Concentrating on a Self-Portrait as a Pharmacist”, “ The Aquired Inability to Escape ” or “ The Asthmatic Escaped ”. Why would the use of vitrines be necessary? The explanation would be isolation. As Michael Collington stated in his book “Blimey”

“Nowadays […] the nothing look would be good. Today someone else might easily do the Silk Cuts (referring to the ashtray full of cigarette butts used in “The Aquired Inability to Escape “) and ashtray without the vitrine, and everybody would be able to tell it’s some kind of art”

Hirst has also exhibited some other work which had absolutely nothing to do with vitrines or installations, like “Authopsy with sliced human brain ”, “Lost Love” or his most recent, most expensive and most talked about piece, “For the Love of God”, the £22 million mould of an 18th century skull, covered with 8601 diamonds from non-conflict areas. At this point, it is without doubt that he can only be considered a mixed media artist.

Until not so long ago, artists would work in one single media, these kind of artists that express themselves through a wide range of mixed media were quite rare. Like the founder and first Director of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius stated:

“The old dualistic world-concept which envisaged the ego in opposition to the universe is rapidly losing ground. In its place is rising the idea of universal unity in which all opposing forces exist in a state of balance”

This was one of the revolutions that would change the public’s views on mixed media artists, giving them the freedom that lies with expressing themselves through various forms of art depending on the subject they wish to portray or the I feeling they want to transmit.

Furthermore, his whole body of work stands against some of the avant-garde theories. Even if it is governed by individualism, less in it’s conceiving than in its viewing, analysis and critique, Hirst’s work stands against the theory that Burger fathered:

“ When art and the praxis of life are one, when the praxis is aesthetic and the art is practical, art’s purpose can no longer be discovered, because the existence of two distinct spheres (art and the praxis of life) that is constitutive of the concept of purpose or intended use has come to an end ”

In this particular case, the body of work has very little to do with the praxis of life that avant-gardistes hailed, being ermetic towards it. It goes without saying that, even if the work is difficult and rather complex in it’s simplicity, it provides the viewer with a good baggage of emotions that can be contradictory at times but it comes down to a simple and rather logical conclusion to what does one conceive as art and that is:

“If it makes you think, it’s art”