Re: [BKARTS] art

[Richard Minsky <minsky@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The Internet is my favorite book.

Code is the thread that binds the pages together.  When I made the 
first book art website in 1993 I was very excited that I could use 
html code as binding thread. Like Michael, I am a computer geezer. I 
started off programming an IBM 360 in machine language in 1964. Now 
there are many forms of code, as there are many forms of bookbinding. 
We have perl, java, javascript, etc.

I would not agree, however, that it is not art because it has a 
commercial purpose.  There are many kinds of art. Commercial Art is a 
big field.  And some TV commercials transcend their pecuniary 
function and become iconic artworks of the culture. Some are 
entertainment. Some are hilarious. The reason I titled this thread 
"art" with no modifier is that it raises the fundamental question 
that some have stated--when do we call it art.

It further goes toward our field wide nomenclature: Book Art is a 
subset of Book Arts. The latter includes industrial arts, hand 
crafts, etc. When the metaphoric content of a work is enhanced or 
furthered by the materials, form and images, then we call it Book 
Art.  We distinguish between Fine Art, Decorative Art and 
Illustration. I've written and spoken a lot about this.

So we have two different questions posed by Peter and Michael: Is it 
a book?, and is it art?

Whether it's good or not is another question. But it may be THE 
question. Rose Slivka said "If it's good, it's art. If it's not, who cares?"

--
Richard
http://minsky.com

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