Soon after it opened, my wife and I went to the Tacoma Museum of Glass, in the hopes of seeing great examples of art…made of Glass.

What greeted us was a display of several modern “artists”, including, among others, John Gage.

Some of the artwork included: 

• A piece of approximately 8 in. x 10 in. parchment, upon which the “artist” had traced the outline of several rocks.
• A 10 or 15 foot roll of parchment upon which the “artist” had wallked backwards across, after stepping into paint.
• A recording of one of Gage’s musical “art pieces” in which each note was played 60 seconds apart.

And other less memorable pieces…

This was when I realized something that I had long suspected, but whose thought had not crystalized in my mind:  It isn’t that I don’t understand “modern art”, it is that “modern art” ISN”T ART.