Betty Brennan wrote:
>
> Supply and demand was just one of the many examples of how you could
> qualitatively assess whether art is good or bad.  Given that this is
> related to my culture it is probably not the best assessment tool. Out
> of curiosity, in art classes how does a professor decide whether you
> get an A, B or C on the piece of work?  If art is not quantifiable,

well, in the classes i've taken, quality was never really an issue.
grades were given based on whether one completed all the given
assignments, if the student had a good attitude about the class, etc.
of course, there were critiques during which professor, artist and
classmates discussed each other's work.  very open ended, i might add.
you can discuss success from a design point of view.  (i.e. how does the
viewer's eye bounce around on the canvas and is that how you wanted the
viewer's eye to bounce around.  and you can tell your colleagues what if
any meaning(s) you intended to express and get their reactions to see if
you suceeded or not.) but straight out "quality," i don't know about
that.

i should qualify this by saying that i didn't continue with studio art
past the undergraduate level.  i understand critiques can get pretty
intense for the MFA.

> then isn't everything that someone produces (or everything in nature,
> for that matter) art?  Is the marketing plan that I write or the ad
> that I produce a piece of art if my friends and coworkers say that it
> is?  Please excuse my lack of knowledge.
>
i don't know either.  those are the fundamental questions of this
thread, i think.  as i've said in other posts, i try not to bring "art"
into the picture (pun intended) unless i can help it.  but i would tend
to give the maker the benefit of the doubt to define his or her own
work....

kjk