Art in Art is Art in Art

by Ad Reinhardt

   Scroll Poem

The beginning in art is not the beginning.
Creation in art is not creation.
Nature in art is not nature.
Art in nature is not nature.
The nature of art is not nature.
Art in life is not life.
Life in art is not life.


The picture of art is not a picture.
A work of art is not work.
Working in art is not working.
Work in art is work.
Not work in art is working.
Play in art is not play.
Business in art is business.
Art in business is business.
The business of art is not business.


The substance of art is not substance.
The matter of art is not matter.
The subject of art is not the subject.
The object of art is not the object.
The manner of art is not the manner.
Technique in art is technique.
Qualities in art are qualities.


People in art are not people.
Dogs in art are dogs.
Grass in art is not grass.
A sky in art is a sky.
Things in art are not things.


Words in art are words.
Letters in art are letters.
Writing in art is writing.
Messages in art are not messages.
Explanation in art is no explanation.
no explanation.


Knowledge in art is not knowledge.
Learning in art is not learning.
Ignorance in art is ignorance.
Art-schooling is not schooling.
Unlearning in art is learning.
The unschooled in art are unschooled.
Wisdom in art is not wisdom.
Foolishness in art is foolishness.
Consciousness in art is consciousness.
Unconsciousness in art is unconsciousness.


Order in art is not order.
Chaos in art is chaos.
Symmetry in art is not symmetry.
Asymmetry in art is asymmetry.


A square in art is not a square.
A circle in art is a circle.
A triangle in art is a triangle.
A trisection in art is not a trisection.


A color in art is not a color.
Colorlessness in art is not colorlessness.
Blue in art is blue.
Red in art is red.
Yellow in art is yellow.
Dark gray in art is not dark gray.
Matt black in art is not matt black.
Gloss black in art is gloss black.
White in art is white.


A line in art is not a line.
A wiggly line in art is a wiggly line.
A shape in art is a shape.
A blob in art is a blob.
Form in art is not form.
The formlessness of art is not formlessness.
Imagelessness in art is imagelessness.
Non-imagelessness in art is non-imagelessness.


Limits in art are not limits.
No limits in art are limits.
Discipline in art is discipline.
Sameness in art is not sameness.
Variety in art is not variety.
Monotony in art is not monotony.
Balance in art is not balance.
Freedom in art is freedom.


Drawing in art is drawing.
Graphic art is graphic.
A print in art is a print.
A reproduction in art is a reproduction.
Painting in art is not painting.
Plumbing in art is not plumbing.
Carpentry in art is carpentry.
Texture in art is texture.
Figures in art are figures.
Configurations in art are configurations.
Transfigurations in art are not transfigurations.


Simplicity in art is not simplicity.
Less in art is not less.
More in art is not more.
Too little in art is not too little.
Too large in art is too large.
Too much in art is too much.
Junk in art is junk.
Informal art is informal.
Brute art is brute.
Tachist art is Tachist.
Action art is action.
Chuitzbah in art is chuitzbah.
Chance in art is not chance.
Accident in art is not accident.
Spontaneity in art is not spontaneity.
Pushing in art is pushing.
Pulling in art is pulling.
Heroism in art is not heroism.
Hankering in art is hankering.
Hungering in art is hungering.


The perfection of art is not perfection.
The purity of art is not purity.
The idealism of art is not idealism.
The realism of art is not realism.
The corruption of art is corruption.
Compromise in art is compromise.
Food in art is not food.


A collage in art is a collage.
Paste in art is paste.
Paint in art is not paint.
Brushwork in art is brushwork.
Sand, string, plaster in art is sand, string, plaster.
Sculpture in art is sculpture.
Architecture in art is not architecture.
Literature in art is literature.
Poetry in art is poetry.
Music in art is not music.
Poetry in art is not poetry.
Sublimity in art is not sublimity.
Rusticity in art is rusticity.


A sign in art is a sign.
A symbol in art is a symbol.
The symbol of art is not a symbol.
The sign of art is not a sign.
The image of art is not an image.


Vision in art is not vision.
The visible in art is visible.
The invisible in art is invisible.
The visibility of art is visible.
The invisibility of art is visible.


The mystery of art is not a mystery.
The unfathomable in art is not unfathomable.
The unknown in art is not the unknown.
The beyond in art is not beyond.
The immediate in art is not the immediate.
The behind in art is not the behind.
The forefront of art is forefront.


The cosmology of art is not cosmology.
The psychology of art is not psychology.
The philosophy of art is not philosophy.
The history of art is not history.
Art in history is not history.
The meaning of art is not meaning.


The morality of art is not morality.
The religion of art is not religion.
The spirituality of art is not spirituality.
Humanism in art is not humanism.
Dehumanism in art is not dehumanism.
Bumpkin-Dionysianism in art is Bumpkin-Dionysianism.
The iconology of art is not iconology.
The iconoclasm of art is iconoclasm.


Darkness in art is not darkness.
Light in art is not light.
Space in art is space.
Time in art is not time.
Evolution in art is not evolution.
Progress in art is not progress.


The beginning of art is not the beginning.
The finishing of art is not the finishing.
The furnishing of art is furnishing.
The nothingness of art is not nothingness.
Negation in art is not negation.
The absolute in art is absolute.




Art in art is art.
The end of art is art as art.
The end of art is not the end.