Response to "Art Which Can't Be Art" by Allen
Kaprow
When Kaprow brushed his teeth, is this art or life? Does Kaprow succeed or fail?
The act of brushing one's teeth is merely another aspect of daily life. However, as Kaprow begins to analyze himself during this act, he dives into art. Through the development of Modernism, art was transformed away from cliche paintings and portraits and was created from everyday life. Kaprow succeeds in creating art for himself because he enjoys basking in this simplicity and analyzing the movements. Sometimes art has personal meaning; this is the case for Kaprow.
What activities do you do in "nonconscious" ways? What would change if you noticed them and documented them? How do these activities relate to the passage of time?
In todays world, we are constantly bombarded with millions of pieces of information every second but are only able to process a few. Thus is it a gift that we are able to do things automatically without thinking. Some activities I engage in without being aware are breathing, eating, sleeping. With both breathing and sleeping it had for a human to be consciously aware of what is going on. When I have tried to focus my attention on breathing, I found it to be an arduous task. Psychology has proven that our bodies are in a state of paralysis during sleep to prevent harmful actions. However, it would be quite interesting to see how many times I flip and turn in my sleep. When it comes to eating, I never savor the flavor of food in my mouth or pay attention to how little i am chewing. Chewing 22 time with every bit is not an option. In all of these activities, time happens simultaneously. Over a certain span of time, ones breath can shorten and increase with speed. In sleeping, depending on how long you have been asleep, the body and mind fall into certain sleeping categories based on time. With eating, the pace at which one consumes food is an element of time. When it comes to any food, time will allow the fruit to rot.
