dynamic or productive aspects. Simply providing a full tea service and calling it art is no longer a radical gesture; neither, by the same token, is the construction of a small, largely arbitrary library.

The duck, on the other hand, evades empty repetition and latent cynicism and embraces, instead, sincerity. It is an open celebration, rather than a murky, unbaked condemnation. It visibly fosters community. Admittedly, it too draws on art historical precedents – but it also declares its independence from them. And, moored far from any museum of art, it largely sheds the discursive layers of the institution. Call it art, sure – but note, too, that it floats. It thus belongs comfortably, in short, to two species – it is both artwork and toy – even astime.

*Author Kerr Houston teaches art history and art criticism at MICA; he is also the author of An Introduction to Art Criticism (Pearson, 2013) and recent essays on Wafaa Bilal, Emily Jacir, and Candice Breitz.

Kerr Houston has taught art history and art criticism at MICA since 2002. He is the author of the book An Introduction to Art Criticism (Pearson, 2012), and his recent writings range from an article on a metaphorical aspect of the Sistine Chapel chancel screen, in Source, to an extended essay on Candice Breitz’s Extra, in Nka.

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Fox Studio Building

Baltimore has a thriving art and cultural scene. The Artist/Maker Studios at the Fox Building are the newest spaces