Looking at Art and Artists: What Makes Something a Work of Art?

Artists explore different ways of experiencing and interpreting the world around them. Some artists experiment with materials and approaches, while others may draw our attention to important social and political issues, ask us to pause and reflect, or challenge our ideas about what art can be. 

Some artists choose to make ephemeral art, works purposely intended to be destroyed or that disappear because of their interaction with the elements. Gordon Matta-Clark made art out of an old building, using metal, light and sky as materials. David Hammons has made art out of discarded objects such as chicken bones, bottle caps, human hair, and paper bags to address issues of race and class.  

Activities 

Elementary School 

What Makes Something a Work of Art?
Ask students to discuss what makes something a work of art. What characteristics does a work of art have? Who decides? What materials can a work of art be made of? Ask students to spend some time thinking and writing about their personal definitions of art. Encourage students to debate about what criteria of their definitions are nonnegotiable and which ones are not essential.

Alter an Object
Have students pick an everyday object and alter it in some way. Then ask them to try to convince someone that it is art. Encourage them to think about and discuss what parts of their objects they can highlight to support their arguments. For older students: Invite students to work on an advertising campaign to convince a broader audience that their objects are art. Ask them to decide what forms of media would best suit their efforts. Have them put their campaigns into practice.  

Compare and Contrast Day’s End
Use the videos and other resources for David Hammons’s and Gordon Matta-Clark’s Day’s End below. Both artists began their artworks with a sketch. Have students compare and contrast Hammons’s and Matta-Clark’s sketches and the images of their works. Invite students to imagine and sketch their own responses to creating a “temple to sun and water” or a “ghost monument.” 

Middle and High School 

What Makes Something a Work of Art?
How might you define art? Merriam Webster defines art as “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects”. Ask students to discuss this definition. Do they agree or disagree? Can they come up with their own definition for art? Students can select a work of art or object and debate whether or not it is art.

Create a Proposal for a Public Artwork
View and discuss the videos about David Hammons and Day’s End with your students. Now that students know more about Hammons's Day's End, what else can they say about the work? How has the information in the videos changed their ideas about this public artwork? 

Make an Ephemeral Artwork
Creating public art like Day’s End entails a lot of investigation into the site in order to bring the work to fruition. Have students think about a place in their neighborhood where they think there should be a public artwork. Ask students to present to each other all the reasons they think the space would benefit from having an artwork. Once they have chosen their sites, have students come up with their own artwork proposals to present to broader audiences.

Create an Artwork That is Difficult to Sell
Encourage students to make an ephemeral work of art. Ask them if they could make an artwork that would only last a day. An hour? A minute? Have them think about what choices and materials they could experiment with to make their artworks. How would the placement of their artwork affect its conditions and demise? 

In some of his artworks, David Hammons used materials that question the work’s worth, such as using objects that others might consider trash (chicken bones, bottle caps, human hair, etc.) or that are nondurable such as snow, bringing the objects’ worth into question. Ask students to create an artwork using materials that would make it difficult to sell.

Additional Resources 

Whitney Museum: Information about the David Hammons, Day’s End project.

Hammer Museum: David Hammons biography. A concise summary of important moments in Hammons’s artistic career. Also provides a selected bibliography and links to articles.

CCA Wattis Institute: Essay on David Hammons by Anthony Huberman.

Public Delivery: Information about David Hammons, Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983. 

Guggenheim Museum: Biography on Gordon Matta-Clark.

Hyperallergic: Feature on Gordon Matta-Clark.

Brooklyn Rail: Article about Gordon Matta-Clark.

Gothamist: Shelley Seccombe’s photographs of sunbathing on the West Side piers. 

Artforum: Article about Alvin Baltrop and his pier photographs.

The Guardian: Photographs of the piers by Alvin Baltrop.

Curbed: Guide to New York City’s public art.

NYC Parks: Guide to public art in New York City parks.