Interesting thoughts, Al. I appreciate the chance to revisit this discussion.
Is it art, you asked, and you answered the following (emphasis mine):
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bonsaial1
Who knows. For that moment, Carl captured a very evocative image on film. He created art with the photo, not the grass. He could have just as easily have planted the grass in the container the moment before he snapped the photo. ( I know he didn’t since I posted an earlier photo of the same composition) Carl made art with how he displayed not by how he grew it. The grass grows that way the world over, but not many people will have captured it on film the way he did. Living plants change all the time. Owners change, plants are not cared for in the same way. Bonsai are not looked at in the same way on the bench as they are in a photo.
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Your post calls attention to the fundamental role of the act of display in art, and here I agree with you entirely. This is critical because it places the object in the context necessary to serve as art, and this distinction not only highlights that, but serves as a nice way to start to characterize the philosophical question of what is art, in that unlike many other attempts at definition, yours helps explain certain cases such as "found art" which otherwise are very difficult to explain as having artistic merit or function.
Where I have differed from you (if at all) in the past is in the assertion that the photograph is the art. I'd argue that the planting, displayed, is art, and the photograph is a photograph of that art.
But I may have to back away from that argument. What was the display in this case? It was a black backdrop set up in my back yard. Would you display a kusamono to your friends that way? Never! It was set up for the purpose of taking the photograph. I'd say that if I'd set this up in my house, as in the (three-years-old and largely unsuccessful) attempt at indoor display posted below, it would have been (an attempt at) art. Set up for display in front of a suspended backdrop in a way that only looks good in photography, not live --- then you're right, the photo is the art.
Thanks for the opportunity to revisit this subject.
Best regards,
Carl