Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Art history class notes artwork on eBay for $25kThe artwork Untitled (Art History Notes) by John Jordan consists of three pages of notes taken in a University of Kansas class. The piece is being auctioned on eBay right now with a starting bid of $25,000. Who is this John Jordan? Just an inspired college student pulling a Duchampian prank. From a column he wrote for the university's newspaper:
Link to column, Link to eBay auction (Thanks, Sly Thompson!)One can’t easily define art and the dictionary definition leaves much to be desired. But they gave us a definition in modern art history class: Art is what the artist decides it is, and, to a lesser degree, what the art community accepts.
This definition can lead to art that only focuses on art itself — art for art’s sake — and ignores the good things art can do: inspire, cause change, amaze, etc. Nevertheless, it does help define these peculiar pieces as art.
More importantly, this definition lets me, now as an artist, decide what art is. It’s an empowering definition. The numerous classes I have taken, the art I have studied and seen, and the history that I know put me in a position to produce art. So, now I would like to introduce my first work as an artist.
posted by David Pescovitz at 06:23:56 PM
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