By Chris Cosci

What is art? This question has been raised many times, usually when somebody is offended. But there is no real answer because everybody has a different opinion. For every person who finds a certain work of art offensive, there is usually another person who thinks the work is really a "social commentary."

Looking back through history, some of the most popular works of art weren't about social commentary. Art was about aesthetics. Art was paintings of landscapes and depictions of biblical events. Art was portraits of naked women and sculptures of naked men.

Eventually, art became abstract. Now, it's not always about what you actually see, but how the work makes you feel. Two people can look at the same painting and have completely different interpretations. One person will say, "I think the artist is trying to express his inner peace, which has been covered in layers of depression, anger and anxiety." And another person will look and say, "I think somebody threw up on the canvas."

These days, just about anything can be considered art - but only if it's created by an artist. If an artist spray paints a sneaker green and gives it a clever name like "corporate envy," it's art. If an artist smashes a clock and rearranges the parts as a symbol of the destruction of time, it's art. If an artist throws spaghetti against a wall and lets it dry, it's art. If I did all of the above, I'd have a ruined sneaker, a broken clock and a wall to clean, and people would think I'm a lunatic.

The line between what is art and what isn't has disappeared. It can be very confusing. You can have a group of people looking at an empty room saying, "it's so stark, but so bold; the openness, the space, the emptiness - it's all so impressive." Then another person will walk in and say, "actually, that's just an empty room; the exhibit is across the hallway."

It's this lack of definition that recently led to an embarrassing situation at the Boulder Public Library in Boulder, CO. The library was opening a new art exhibit, and one of the works was called "My Favorite Place to Walk in Boulder: Or Found Trash Objects." It consisted of common trash items that University of Colorado art students found in otherwise scenic areas of the city. Like any proper piece of art today, this work had a message. It was a social commentary on the state of our ecology. And then it was thrown out by a custodian.

Now, why would a custodian throw out a work of art? Because it was a pile of garbage! If you were cleaning a building and you came across a smelly, unmarked pile on the floor containing a cigarette package, a soggy shoe and a coaster, you'd probably throw it out, too.

The art was eventually recovered and made its debut as part of the new exhibit. But the message was clear. There are no limits as to what is considered art. If a bunch of students can collect garbage, pile it up and call it art, is there anything that can't be considered art?

The real question is, what makes somebody an artist? Historic artists could be defined by the craftsmanship in their work, such as the intricate details of a sculpture or the subtle shades of a painting. But if I were to gather trash from the streets of New York City and put it in a small pile in a gallery, how can you tell that the University of Colorado students are artists and I'm not? We know one thing for certain: the custodian at the Boulder Public Library wouldn't be able to.