I attended my last meeting of the Union of Freethinking Students at Aladdin's last night. The topic for the salon was art: what it is, what it's for, etc. Each of us was to bring something we considered an important or controversial work and explain it in these terms. My own specimen was a photograph of Cosimo Cavallaro's My Sweet Lord, the "chocolate Jesus" that stirred up so much controversy this past spring and had William Donahue of the Catholic Defense League in in such a snit. As my personal definition of "art" is any juxtaposition of elements created with the intention of eliciting in a viewer a response not necessitating intellectual interpretation (although one may take place after that initial response), My Sweet Lord was one of the better examples I could think of. Just watch what it did to Donahue in the linked video! Nothing intellectual there.Others brought their own items as well. MiBu brought a coffee table book of the works of Jackson Pollock; BrMa brought a paperback of The Neverending Story for the illustration on its cover; Andrew/Alex had a couple of books, including Thomas More's Utopia; etc. As usual, ideas and opinions varied, which is exactly why we have these discussions. BrMa tends to be very strict in his attempts at defining what amount to subjective ideas and experiences, for example, while mine tend to be more experiential. It's been nice having this weekly forum to debate and argue for a couple of hours, then come away with one or more altered points of view. It's been a big part of my past three years here. I may even attempt to start a chapter of the organization at my new university if I have the time.
When I went up to pay my tab, it was Nidal who took it. He asked me where LL was (we usually come as a unit) and we talked for a bit. He looked like he was going to cry when I told him that we'd be gone after next week and he wished us "Salah." He also told me that we'd "never find a place like his," which is possibly true. LL and I are planning to go back for a last visit a week from today. I'm sure that'll be emotional... so will it be art?