Pile of Bricks

In an exhibit at the Tate Gallery in 1976, there is a make-believe artist, perhaps even well-known places his art work in a museum. This artwork is assembled with 120 bricks, and is arranged in a rectangular form on the floor. It is 2 bricks high, 6 across and 10 lengthwise, and therefore he calls it a “Pile of Bricks.” At the same time, a bricklayer’s assistant does something identical to what the previous well known artist did, but he is absolutely unaware of this incident. Therefore this situation has sparked a debate as to whether or not the bricklayer’s assistant work is considered a work of art due to the striking similarities between the two art pieces, and the fact that it is not located in a well-respected area like a museum. However, according to the Platonic Idealism, the ideal narrows down to three basic concepts: ideal, reality, and representation, and this idealism says that there is more to just a label that determines whether something is considered a work of art or not, and it also refers to the fact that there are certain levels to it, and one cannot simply claim that something is or is not a work of art. According to Plato, he says “to imitate the world is to deceive.” In the Platonic Idealism, he uses a chair as an example. He starts off with the idea of a chair, which directly ties into a concept. The first artist constructs his bricks in such a format, so if he or she intends to place it in a museum and want to receive high praise in return, the artist probably placed much thought into the process. The artist would have most likely assembled the bricks in such an intricate way, perhaps to give off an ambiguous meaning. The way it is assembled would have most likely correlate to his thoughts or experience in some way, as if there is a story behind the placement of the bricks. In addition, it was already mentioned that the bricklayer’s assistant is completely unaware that his work resembles a striking similarity to the artist. The