Bricks, in what form are they accepted?

It's appalling how the most basic and non- controversial art piece can arouse debate about its existence. Carl Andre bought 120 bricks and arranged them in a rectangular pile. The bricks take the basic physical form and become part of the environment, altering the viewer’s relationship to the surrounding space. Their visual appearance and tangible, tactile form, poses the question of why they are art and why similar objects on sale in the markets are not. Tate officials later bought his work worth $12,000. At one site; a bricklayer named Tony Heffer took about 30 bricks, made the pattern, and said he could probably peddle it to the Tate for the equivalent of what he earned in a year. It instigates the question of what kind of artwork should then be shown that equals the input cost and has a need-based value.

Contrary to this, bricks piled in the form of a wall in a gallery space suddenly serves more meaning to us and makes them look more important than a mere object. Noor Ali Chagani talks of bricks as a solid, enduring space that sustains and bears. He relates it to the identity of a male character in a Pakistani household. They are the building block of family and have to show strength at all times. Carl Andre says that his use of bricks doesn't have any hidden meaning and they just lie there for the viewers to create their own language. Material is the same but the execution of an idea makes it potentially powerful.

For me, bricks signify walls and barriers that exist within our houses and surroundings. These barriers are created in our home spaces (the basic wall structure). I've captured how the same bricks which are essential in construction become barriers while we deconstruct them in an outside space. What sets the same bricks apart?

Why don't we contemplate on the bricks lying on our road? Why do we portray them as hindrances or mere industrial objects?

The huge and uneven stone bricks outside a building, remind me of how castles were guarded with mountains and water in between. The bricks reinforced on the banner shows how society has changed over time. Previously, people felt secure even while their main gates were open but with time people starting adding more gate locks, blocks, and poles, etc to secure their houses and streets.

I conducted an informal questionnaire on Instagram to see what people think of art and what form of bricks engages the viewer visually and conceptually.

The art lies in the eye of the beholder, it depends on us to draw meaning from the surroundings. However, the aspect of who is displaying the art and where it is displayed always comes into focus when dealing with the audience.