"Yesterday it was a six million dollar work of art, today it's a piece of junk!"
-Bones

Yes, I have been watching Bones, and I am currently watching an episode in which a body was found in a crushed car sculpture (constructed by putting the car through a compactor).  The scientists are temporarily forbidden from taking the sculpture apart to examine the remains, on the grounds that the sculpture is "an historic piece of art."  I found this interesting, considering the nature of this class.  This episode also raises the question of what qualifies an object as art.  The director of the studio in which the other, similarly constructed car sculptures are displayed requested the injunction; she is a "member of the artworld" and therefore "qualified" to confer the status of art on an object.  In this case, the intention of the artist, the director, and the people who came to see the artist's sculptures determined that the "sculptures" were indeed art.  Apart from being an episode of a crime show, this was also a commentary on what makes art, art.

Enigma

My freshman year, I went to the welcome fair and got one of those free trucker caps.  I chose the word "Enigma" to be airbrushed on the front.  Whenever I wore it, there was always someone who would point to my hat and say "That's so me."  At first I got annoyed--why couldn't I just wear my hat in peace?  But I suppose it is natural for people to want others to know that there is more to them than meets the eye.  It also ties into Adrian Piper's writing and our class discussion today.  Piper believes that performance art is more unique and valuable than other art forms because it is the only art form that actively involves people, who are each mysterious and unique individuals.  There will always be another layer to the art that observers cannot see, because there is always another layer to people that no one can see.

Does this not apply to other art forms as well?  Why or why not?