Marcel Duchamp proclaimed that something becomes art when an artist says it’s art. This would make for a simple theory of art, and easily applicable. We can remember when Duchamp utilized this verdictive process to make a urinal become art. Yet this story would’ve vanished had others not recognized Duchamp’s pronouncement. Therein lies a decisive criticism of this belief about art. People who aren’t recognized as artists can’t declare their work to be art in this system. And there’s one group in particular ignored by the customs of artistic practice: incarcerated artists…
Read the whole article by Michael Spicher on Splice Today.
This article is inspired by Nicole Fleetwood’s book, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.
