Stanizewski defines Art as an invention of the modern era. She says, “Art, as we know it is a relatively recent phenomenon and is something made to be seen in galleries, preserved in museums, purchased by collectors, and reproduced within the mass media. When an artist creates a work of Art it has no intrinsic use or value; but when this artwork circulates within the systems of Art (galleries, art histories, art publications, museums, and so on) it acquires a depth of meaning, a breadth of importance, and

an increase in value that is greater proportionately than perhaps anything else in the modern world” (28). In other words, it is not until a work of Art is put in the public eye that it is truly considered ‘Art’ and given meaning and value. Institutions have become the ruler with which we measure and define what is or is not Art. For example, a urinal is seen as something functional in its natural environment; yet when Marcel Duchamp placed a urinal in an art exhibition in 1913 and called it Fountain, it was transformed into sculpture. Duchamp himself described the conventions by which we measure Art today, saying, “It is we who have given the name ‘art’ to religious things; the word itself doesn’t exist among ‘primitives.’ We have created it in thinking about ourselves, about our satisfaction. We created it for our sole and unique use” (31). What was once merely an ‘object’ has become a work of Art because by modern standards and conventions, it is an extraordinary and unique creation.

Clearly, contemporary art is not only different, but also more widely accepted than Art was in the past. That is not to say that it holds more value, but changing and expanding value systems have led to greater acceptance of what is Art and who is an artist. Today, rather than going along with accepted standards of beauty and value, it is up to the viewer to attribute meaning to any visual produc

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