THE LUXURY EDITION What is Art?

By Daren Cook

Well, Andy Warhol said, “Art is anything you can get away with”. He was right, but to me, “Art is also whatever we, the viewer, decide it is” - an interesting thought in the context of this edition's theme.

When we think luxury, we usually think 'opulent' or 'expensive'. It's obvious why a superyacht is expensive, but when it comes to contemporary art, one man's masterpiece is another's junk. All art is subjective, but some artworks are more subjective than others. It's a theme I enjoy exploring in my own work.

Of course, art has been around since the beginning of us – it's been fundamental to the development of culture and civilisation. I'm not thinking so lo ily; what interests me is what I call 'Dinner Party Art' – the kind of work that engenders admiration and scorn in equal measure. The type of work that's worth a fortune at auction but inspires comments like 'I could've done that' or 'What's so clever about dots?' by the less enamoured party guest. There's nothing like divisive art to get a dinner party conversation flowing – especially if it says, 'I could've done that'.

Great art encourages discourse. Herbert Bayard Swope said, "I can't give you the recipe for success, but the recipe for failure is trying to please everyone". Quite.

If you put a signed football shirt in a frame, does that make it art? or a Pink Floyd drum skin? If a piece owns up to being fake, does that make it a work of art in its own right? It's not trying to deceive anyone.

Marcel Duchamp decided a urinal was art in 1917. It was - in fact, it's become an icon of 20th-century art. You might not like it, but you can't ignore it. The New York Society of Independent Artists didn't care much for it at the time. Still, imagine owning an original Duchamp!

In the context of luxury, art is art if we decide it is. If it appreciates in value or is appreciated aesthetically, then it's art. The more divisive, the better. Art