The Matterhorn Project

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The following text and illustrations will present a conceptual art project, “The Matterhorn Project,” for the purpose of illustrating the dimensional quality of art today. It is possible to trace the linkages between art and philosophy from 2015 (the year of this paper's inception) to the Classical Age. The earliest known examples of art* predate Plato's discussion of art in The Republic by tens of thousands of years. While it is impossible to say with certainty what motivated the painter(s) of, for instance, the “paintings” adorning the Lascaux or Chauvet cave walls, it is not difficult at all to recognize the value of these art works. They are treasures.

But why? To understand the value of art, we may assess art categorically, subjectively, critically, technically, comparatively, contextually, anthropologically, aesthetically, academically, economically, socially and so on. With so may applicable criteria for art, one will be hard-pressed to estimate the value of art conclusively, as a reductive exercise.