Why are certain items considered even remotely artistic or appealing to the eye? Perhaps because they reflect the experience of people in our current culture. Previous generations created art from the scenery around them, from industries growing up in their cities, and from the people around them. Today’s artists do the same thing by employing objects, experiences, and current events in their work. Bullet casings might not seem very artistic to a well-to-do Seattle businessman, but to a young man raised in a New York City ghetto where crime is rampant, bullet casings speak volumes about daily reality. There is beauty in reality, even when it is frightening.

Post-it notes? Well, it’s hard to see any deep meaning in those compared to bullet casings. Though, maybe the single mother of three children struggling to support her family with a boring office clerk job after her husband was gunned down in a grocery store robbery might see something meaningful even in post-it notes.

Hence, art is born.