what is art?

the gang (especially Mr. Howell) goofing off in the Yayoi Kusama exhibition 

So this weekend I soaked up a lot of art in the Steel City. Specifically lots of modern art at the Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory. We had an absolute blast! But it left me wondering ... what the hell makes art, art?

Walking through these galleries, I felt a little like a country bumpkin and sometimes wondered whether a particular item was art or just part of the museum. Here are a few things I saw this weekend:

• sketches on plain paper described as "graphite on off-white bond" (Really? Pencil and paper? Does that seem a little silly to you?)
• a completely dark room with two chairs that you sit in until you "see something" (Actually the James Turrell exhibits were some of my absolute favorites, but I'm not sure I understood the dark room stuff...)
• room full of creepy dolls (disturbing!)
• an empty room with floating mylar balloons (cool ... and Joe would've loved it, but we have something similar to that set up regularly in our playroom...)
• three television screens mounted on the wall playing nature/cloud scenes
• opportunity for you to still perfectly still for four minutes to make a "screen test" (Here is mine if you are interested ... very awkward and I clearly can't sit still!)

Am I not worldly or artsy enough to fully "get it"? Is it because I'm from Wichita Falls? No matter... I totally enjoyed the experience even if I didn't feel like I really understood it.

So I guess there is no actual need to answer the question above. I'm no Tolstoy, but from what I can tell ... everything seems to be art. And isn't that a beautiful thought?

olive juice, okay?
emily

p.s. here's a lovely song by Don McLean about Van Gogh