Dear constructors,
in todays part of the series I want to question the idea of art and also the idea of persistence.
Heaven
Ernst Günter Hansing, untitled (steel sculpture), 1988/89
Earth
A kid-built bridge in the sandpit.
Like beauty, art is in the eye of the beholder.
But often things are only considered as art, when their creator is known and when a sign is attached telling people: "This is art." Artist like Marcel Duchamp actually took everyday objects, signed them and placed them in a gallery. This way the artwork was created just by calling it art and by placing it into an art environment.
"Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp (public domain)
Dynamics of the present
The artwork by Ernst Günter Hansing, who was a disciple of Fernand Léger, was created in celebration of the 2000 year existence of the city Bonn.
In spite of compositional austerity, the dynamics of the present, including that of the city of Bonn, can be conveyed with these forms, which are acting like an bundle of energy, as intended by the artist.
― Source
Build for eternity
The plastic of Hansing had been made out of steel with a base of concrete. It was meant to stay there at least another 2000 years, I guess. While the bridge "artwork" in the sandpit was build out of sticks in the sand. I'm pretty sure, the artist, that created it, neither would have called it art, nor would have dreamt about someone would feature it in a photography series about art. But things never turn out the way you expect.
"In February 1998, the top-vortex of the plastic, that had been called "shashlik" by the people, broke down and had to be re-welded.”
― Source
In the end the observer decides, wether something is art or not. So you better watch out!
P.S.: Here are the links to: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13 and Part 14 of the series.