What is Art?

What constitutes something as being a piece of art rather than just plain silly, or insane or garbage for that matter? I imagine the goal of an artist is to make some sort of profound statement, invoke some strong emotion, or maybe just make the world a more beautiful place. I have to admit that most of the time I don’t have a clue as to what I’m looking at, let alone its meaning.


For example, on a recent cross-country road trip, I stopped off at an infamous landmark called Cadillac Farm along old route 66 in Amarillo, Texas. Now if you’ve ever driven through Amarillo you’d notice that there aren’t many interesting things to look at along the way so when an opportunity to see something unusual, or anything at all for that matter, pops up, you take it.

Cadillac Farm is what you’d expect…Cadillacs growing in a field. In 1974 a group of artists called Ant Farm took 10 Cadillacs and planted them face down in a cornfield. The caddies range from model years 1949 through 1963. What possessed them to do this, I’ll never know. But remember, there was a lot of parting going on in the 70’s so I’m sure it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do at the time.



I remember seeing pictures of this place when I was a kid. The cars still had tires and original paint colors, but over the years the elements and vandals have greatly altered their appearance. Still, it’s an interesting place to visit if you’re in the area and I highly recommend the experience, if just for the absurdity of it all. FYI, if you happen to go on a rainy day as I did, remember to bring along an extra pair of shoes.

Getting back to my original question, what makes this art? Personally, I just think it’s silly and entertaining. It was far more interesting to me before I knew artists created it. In my imagination, I thought it was some eccentric old oil tycoon’s way of disposing of his old caddies. Or maybe it was the Texas version of the scarecrow.