The art of making art without lifting a finger

The chapter “The Art of Making Art Without Lifting a Finger” in The Accidental Masterpiece by Michael Kimmelman is shocking. It starts out with a story of a man, Ray Johnson, who committed suicide as a form of art. He was going to the notion that art is in everything. Honestly, I do think that a lot of things have a sense of artistic value to it, but there is a limit to these things. Making collages and assemblages are quite artistic if it is executed properly, but I do not see the artistic value in committing suicide. However, some people may see it as the greatest form of art. I understand how some people are certain artistic preferences, but this is not the preference for me. Johnson’s work described seems senseless and ridiculous to me. I just do not see how his art was admired. Just because he did “crazy” things like drop hotdogs all over the city does not make him a great artist. In fact, I find it offensive and degrading because it is allowing people to assume that all artists are crazy and create outlandish work because they are desperate. As an aspiring artist, I would not want to be grouped like that. Other artists were named, like Sol LeWitt who thought something as simple as a pencil line was artistic and beautiful. Scott Burton thought that a stain on a wall may have an artistic essence to it; simple, useless marks are not artistic in my opinion, unless it is purposely accidental.