While going over an exam review today in my Philosophy 101 Critical Thinking course, I was amused by this example of an argument:
"One day, out of frustration, your roommate hurls a full bowl of mashed potatoes against the wall of your room, where, amazingly, it sticks. You get up to remove the bowl and potatoes from the wall. 'Leave it,' your roommate insists. 'It says something about my frustration. It's art.' You reply, 'It's garbage.'"
This argument is one of the classic disputes about what qualifies as 'art.' Is art just a representation of a thought, feeling, or emotion? Is art anything that someone creates? Does it require intention? Because if so, this roommate obviously didn't intend to make art- it just happened. How would one argue for the case of mashed potatoes stuck to a wall as art? And how would one argue that it's garbage? All of these questions make the study of art very intriguing, though difficult.
However, if I were that person's roommate, I would make him clean that stuff off the wall because it's messy and unsanitary- art, or not!
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