Art out of context

Great piece in the Washington Post about the importance of context to art: what happens when you take a virtuosic violinist and repackage him as a subway performer? Apparently, not much.

I like to think that art has some sort of inherent meaning outside of its packaging; that good art is good and can be recognized as such even if we are not told that it is good. This study certainly makes a strong claim at refuting that idea. Or maybe it's just that people were too busy to stop and notice...

On the similar subject of objectivity and subjectivity in food, here's a very nice talk on the value of embracing the diversity of tastes.