It is our clear understanding that this classification was not associated to the expect usage of the item. Indeed, whatever its aesthetic judgment on the object, the government will have been in a position to honestly determine that the object was intended for gallery observation much in the same fashion as would be any more convention sculpture or painting. The lack of connection in its intended usage and the classification foisted upon it for purposes of taxation denotes a clear inconsistency on the part of Customs. Here, Brancusi has been the victim of a customs agent who has appointed himself as a critic of art.
In Brancusi's case, there would be a perception that the piece was simply not good enough, traditional enough or representative of its supposed subject enough to be regarded as art. Naturally, there are no laws defining art which abide these subjective notions of qualification. But the greatest danger in allowing this to be imposed by customs officials is in placing into the hands of a government agency the capacity to make such terms for qualification....
The outcome would surely be a dangerous suppression of artistic expression. The flimsy reasons for denying Brancusi's work status as art could just as easily be applied to work reflecting resistant political views, unpopular philosophical impression or non-mainstream religious values. Any degree to which the reasons applied to Brancusi might be used in application to such examples of expression would be a denial of Constitutional First Amendment Rights and a subversion of art's purpose and possibilities. Ultimately, the court would decide in Brancusi's favor with the understanding that a failure to do so could result in a slippery slope that would render artistic expression uniform, conformist and robbed of its power to invoke debate, disagreement, resistance or independence.
Works Cited:
BBC. (2005). Sculpture Breaks Auction Record. BBC News. Online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4516303.stm
Time Magazine. (1928). Art: Custom House Esthetes. CNN. Online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928613,00.html
