After struggling to understand de Duve's thoughts on art, I have adopted the idea that art is everything that people deem art. One of my most memorable experiences I have had with an art work happened very recently. Over the summer, I visited Mass MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) with my dad. Their entire first floor was an exhibit by Spencer Finch, called "What time is it on the sun?" Clearly by the title, all of his art works centered around perspective. Although I found all of his works interesting, one really struck me as the epitome of his exhibit. Finch had taken large pieces of paper, and painted a little colorful blob in the corner, or off to the side on each piece. The blobs somewhat resembled butterflies. He painted them after looking at pictures of butterflies, but only viewing them in his peripherals. So if the viewer were to stare at the center of the paper, rather than at the blob itself, he or she would see the butterfly like blob in their peripherals as he saw the actual picture. It is hard to explain without actually showing an example, but the concept of perception was strong in this exhibit. It made me think about how all art can be perceived differently, and should be viewed in more than one way before forming an opinion about it. This butterfly piece was successful in making the viewer realize the different views one could take on each piece of "art."

de Duve's numerous points of view on art, varying from a Martian's, to your own, seem to stress one important fact; art has no one definition. Art means something different to each individual, because each person brings to the table their own personal experiences, and professional views. Personally, I believe art is something that should make one think, and perhaps draw on their own experiences and ultimately create a new emotional experience, or realization. Even that probably isn't sufficient. Art is always changing, and thus the definition of art should never be a constant. As art changes, and the people who view, and create art, changes, and society, and experiences within the society change, so should the definition of art.