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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 1449331" data-attributes="member: 7464">I don't much see the point in the Red Iceberg piece. This artist is a little strange. Remember, this is the same guy who set up an exhibit consisting of goldfish swimming around in blenders, who suggested to his viewers that they turn them on. The problem with art is it's so broadly defined. My father-in-law (with a degree in Fine Art) defined art as "A creative process, and the results thereof." If it was created out of human creativity, it was art. This didn't mean it was beautiful, profound, or interesting. It is something anybody can do, not just a few talented individuals. Oh, and then there's the key behind the "anybody could do that, I could do that" reaction to a lot of modern art. The point is, you didn't do that. You have the abilities, but lack the vision - however strange and uninspired the vision is - somebody else got there first. I see people on TV all the time and think "Eh, I could do that," but I'm still not the one on TV. Modern art often does not require any particular artistic talent on the part of the creator, but to be noticed it has to be unique - something nobody has done before. Take Kazimir Malevich's <a href="http://www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/exhibitions/virtual/red/e_1.html" target="_blank">Red Square</a> for instance. A famous piece of modern art that any 2nd grader could create for himself. A 2nd grader is unlikely to be painting it as a response to communism, but the literal, finished product would be nearly identical. The two pieces - Malevich's Red Square and the 2nd grader's Red Square are equally Art, but Malevich's gained noteriety becuase of the meaning he associated with the image. That meaning was the only unique and original aspect of the work. So take this Red Iceberg. Anybody with an iceberg, enough red paint, and enough time can simply make one of their own. But this person would probably be largely ignored. Evaristti has managed to attain, all at once, interest, ridicule, outrage, confusion, appreciation, unappreciation, and laughter into a single piece of art - a piece nobody will ever be able to take home and own. He has succeeded in making his mark on Mother Nature, increasing his own fame/ego, and bringing more tourists than usual flocking to a tiny town in Greenland. Most people don't like the Red Iceberg. Most people think it's, at best, silly. But it has inspired more of an emotional reaction to it's mere existence than all of my father-in-laws paintings combined. This makes it not only art, but wildly successful and popular art (the sheer number of people aware of it, thinking about it, talking about it, regardless of whether or not they LIKE it, makes it popular). Nobody can do this piece again without it being considered a cheap knock-off.</blockquote>

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