I write in response to Mr. Bolze and Mr. Marakovits's "Twigs are not art" letter of Jan. 31.

Art is such a difficult word, my friends. What is art for? Decoration? Craft? Beauty? Should artists be a social conscience for our society -- and are they whether we like it or not? Does art have to have one set purpose at all, or can it be all or none of the above things?

What art is may be relative, but I believe that no matter what you call art, that which makes you think in some way is art.

The piece featured in the Collegian photo could be seen as art being very responsive to a particular situation. Maybe it made some people think, or wonder what was going on. Maybe it surprised someone out of their daily humdrum-no-surprises routine life.

There is that art which requires years of practice and talent, and I certainly believe that making art is something that gets better with practice, but to say that something is not art because it has not taken years of study -- I must beg to disagree, friends.