Goya Series: And

John Baldessari (American, born 1931)

I think this piece of art is very controversial because it is so basic and could be said not even to be art. All it is, is an image of a paperclip and a single word beneath it. It is a very witty piece though because it could have been made to ridicule some types of art saying ‘and’ as though what’s the point in this because some art is as simple as this and it could criticise that. There is also the fact that the word and is a conjunction, a word that joins 2 clauses, phrases or sentences together and a paperclip joins pieces of paper and files together. When I first saw this image I thought it was a piece made to criticise the art industry but now I think it could have been genuine but also a slight criticism.