In June, the Indianapolis Museum of Art will be showcasing the 120-foot-long scroll on which Jack
Kerouac wrote his landmark work "On the Road." My question: Is the scroll itself art or artifact?
The scroll -- famously owned by Jim Irsay -- won't be alone on display. It will be joined by 83 cross-country photographs by Robert Frank, who collected them in the his 1958 book "Les Americains." For more details on the exhibition, click here.
For a brief history at the scroll – and a look at it -- click here.
Your thoughts?
The scroll -- famously owned by Jim Irsay -- won't be alone on display. It will be joined by 83 cross-country photographs by Robert Frank, who collected them in the his 1958 book "Les Americains." For more details on the exhibition, click here.
For a brief history at the scroll – and a look at it -- click here.
Your thoughts?
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At the same time, the scroll is arresting to view. It’s creative. It’s mind-boggling to imagine a man so involved in his creation that he couldn’t be interrupted long enough even to insert a new piece of paper into the typewriter. And the fact that the scroll was created for a practical purpose doesn’t preclude it from being art.
I started out convinced it was an artifact. But as I thought about the Native American art I’ve seen at the Eiteljorg Museum – some of which ostensibly was created for a practical purpose – my certainty became shaky.
What’s your take, Lou?