What is Art?

submitted by Oscar Scaia

During Earth Week, students of GISS arrived in their multipurpose room to find a large pile of trash in the middle of the room. Drink cans, protein bars, cardboard boxes, paper cups, Big Cool cups, banana peels- you name it. Trash, compost, and recycling from every bin in the school was compiled and organized at our feet. In front of the pile, there was a sign reading:

“You are one person out of hundreds, unimportant, right? The granola bar you threw into the garbage a week ago seems to have no effect... does it matter?... "

Here’s the thing, some (if not most) of the pile you see in front of you COULD be recycled... all you need to do is move your arm a couple inches so you can put that granola bar wrapper in the recycling rather than the garbage.” This was more than a pile of junk: it was a statement. The Earth Club’s goal is to make our school greener, and to inspire positive change in our community. This act from them sparked a discussion in the art classes: What is art? 

Many people will say, no, a pile of garbage is not art. But many people will argue the opposite. You might be familiar with this global debate concerning “modern art.” Maybe you remember Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” which was the banana duct-taped to a wall that sold for $6.2 million. Or maybe Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain,” an upside-down urinal, which predates Cattelan’s banana by over a century. Both of these pieces make you consider the question. Earth Club member Melody Sliva (grade 12) says, “I think [art is] something that makes people consider the way they behave.” Melody helped create the installation by sorting the garbage to separate the recycling from the compost from what belongs in the landfill. 

To me, the garbage pile is art. It is a curated arrangement with the intention of being thought-provoking and taking a political stance. Whether you agree or not, the fact that it makes you consider both your environmental impact and your personal definition of “art,” is exactly what makes it art to me. Art does not have to be beautiful; it only needs intention.