[1.2]

Is art worth dying over? [Yes/No] Should a single painting cost $150,000,000? [Yes/No] Does a great painting belong to everyone? [Yes/No] Is an artist only a conduit for art, or is art “making” the artist what she is? [Yes/No]

Art seems to possess a mysterious quality, a gift or talent for evading recursion. Like a mountain, art appears to be a topological phenomenon. Art seems to arise from context. The process by which art is created can be deconstructed, and elements contributing to its creation can be identified. Yet art seems to be more than the sum of its parts. Art has the characteristic of being both distinguishable from its environment and of it.

[1.3]

When art is extracted from its original context, the art undergoes a transformation. Superficially, the change, post-extraction, suggests clarification, or definition. If the art is then placed in a context containing other art “pieces,” art invites generalization. The viewer may attempt to compare one art piece with another, to draw conclusions about art in general.