What makes an artist an artist? I've heard a lot of people say that anyone can be an artist and the statement tends to anger me, but why? I guess its partially because I'm going to college for art and I don't say things like oh, well anyone can be a doctor...or...anyone can be a scientist. I mean, it's not fair to put work and time ino something only for someone to say, 'Well thats easy, I can do that.' It's the same for other people's art. When someone says to me, 'That's doesn't look that hard, I could have done that.' About a painting or something I tend to remember the thing one of myart teachers used to say; "Well, maybe you could...but you didn't." It's not just about the painting, it's about the ideas behind the painting.

There was an artist named Marcel Duchamp, who really believed that one of the most important things about art were ideas. Throughout his career as an artist he demonstrated this in various ways. One of his pieces is just a urinal turned upside down with 'The Fountain' written on it. For one of his exhibitions he filled a room with his paintings and then created a web out of a series of strings, which made it impossible to enter the room and difficult to see the paintings. He even created his own system of measurement by dropping strings and gluing them in place. He wasn't a bad painter, he just wanted to make a point. He did regular paintings too (abstract, but done in a traditional way) He just wanted o make a point.

Last week in my World Literature class at Columbus College of Art and Design, my teacher, Mr. Loss planned an activity that was meant to make a point about the book we had just finished. He planned the same activity for his other students at the other college he works at, these students were not art majors. In the demonstration he had taken a red folder and had cut it up into pieces...He gave it to the three volunteers at this other college and said "Put it together" They took it and arranged the pieces back into a rectangular shape, like a puzzle. He then gave it to the three volunteers at our art college. The three people proceeded to bend, rip and stick sticks into it, combining the pieces into an abstract structure, that no longer resembled the original shape even slightly. (Also we started refering it to 'he' because it apparently looked masculine)

I think art is a state of mind. People who are involved in art think differently. It's not a better or worse way of thinking, but it's different. No matter what you consider art to be, this is true. I'm not saying a scientist can't be an artist, but being in an art college has allowed me to see that there are ineed different ways of thinking and seeing the world.

I also think art is a celebration of free expression, so I would not dream of telling anyone that they can't do it just because they aren't making a living at it, thats stupid, we all start out as artists when we're kids, it's wrong to assume that it belongs only to some people. Please don't assume that I'm trying to tell people that art isn't theirs because there not 'artists'

But ideas ARE important. And thoughts ARE important. And if there's no inspiration behind something, then is it art? I dunno, I really don't.