Urinals and Broken Guitars

This is in response to Michelle’s question, “can playing a burning piano or even a submerged one be looked at as art/music? Do people destroy instruments because they want to be unique in their art making?”


The short answer to this question for me is yes. Things such as demolishing a piano or even smashing a guitar have been looked at as art as well as music. Art, just like music, is something that is very hard to define and it is even more difficult if not impossible to find the necessary and sufficient conditions for something to be considered art or music. Though this might be a stumbling block, there have been cases when things mentioned in the above question were considered to be art or a musical piece.

It is difficult to define art, but it anyone was to go into an art museum, they would find much more than the Mona Lisa, or other paintings. Art can be made out of twisted metal, garbage, and almost anything you can think of under the sun. Since these objects are located in what we call an art museum, I am acquiescing to the art curator and trust their judgment that what is in the confines of the buildings is truly art. Though I have never seen an art exhibit that contained a demolished piano, I am sure that there is one out there somewhere. People make things like a submerged piano to be looked at as art, they are not merely trying to be destructive, but they are trying to convey something artistic, for lack of a better word.

As far as things such as destroying instruments being considered music, I think that if you find the right group of people then yes it can be considered music. There are many bands that would destroy their instruments at the end of a performance, and many people considered the sounds that emanated from the battered instruments as musical. Some bands have even gone as far to put sounds such as feedback, or at times play with a damaged instrument to create a newer and different sound that is typically associated with that instrument.

Since it is so hard to find the necessary and sufficient conditions for art or music it is hard to either include or exclude certain things as artistic or musical. So some people might take a urinal, put it on display and declare it art, just like some guitar players might throw their guitar in the air let it crash to the ground and then proceed to play an impromptu and unique version of the star spangled banner (Kurt Cobain, Reading Festival 1992). To some people, these things are art and music.

Question: Do you think some declaring something a work of art is enough to make the object a work of art?