the function of art

[Aimee <vanwagea@bc.edu>]

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hello all,

i am wondering if talking about the function of art might 
be of interest to some on the list and if it might be a 
productive discussion.

in talking about the purpose or the function of floodnet 
actions, one answer has been that, for example, the 
artful creation of error messages, makes the action public 
art.  this makes a lot of intuitive sense to me, as 
others have commented this.  the notion of error logs 
full of the names of those usually unnamed--the massacred 
indigenous at Acteal--is really powerful, touching 
especially aesthetic senses.

but i also wonder if this is really an answer to the 
question 'what is the function of floodnet actions.'  can 
the answer be that art is an end itself?  it is obviously more 
complicated than that, as this floodnet art is always 
tangled with activism.

perhaps this question is a little too philosophical and 
utterly unanswerable.  it is one i think about a lot as a 
graduate student.  i wonder what the function of (my) 
writing is.  is it for me (writing to save lives, even if it is 
only the writer's life who is saved)?  is it for the 
benefit of others (educating the masses or some shit 
like that)?  is it an end it itself (writing for 
writing's sake)?  these same questions seem to apply to this 
art.

aimee

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