In architecture school, we students eventually realized that even though Architecture was based on timeless and universal truths, some of the professors were in opposing camps. The group that we first encountered seemed to like the principles of Robert Venturi, and his partners, and Charles Moore, and his partners, and the writings of Christopher Alexander. We were assigned to read Venturi's book, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, and we built models of cheap grey chip board.

In later years, we had professors that were more excited by the work of Mario Gandelsonas, and Aldo Rossi and the stars of a portfolio book called Five Architects - Eisenman, Graves, Gwathmey, Hejduk, and Meier. We pored over the writings of Manfredo Tafuri in the slick red Architectural magazine, Oppositions. We found it wiser to build models out of expensive white, foam-core board. Not surprisingly one camp was called the greys and the other the whites.

In our Semiotics class, we argued about how much work was required to produce Art. Some of us felt that some submissions were long on theory but short on practicality. One fellow insisted intention determined art. "If I go to the bathroom, that's art." Decades earlier, Marcel Duchamp had written R. Mutt 1917 on a urinal, and submitted it as a work of art called Fountain. Dadaists defended it as art:

Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.

According to a poll of artists, Fountain is now considered the most influential artistic work of all time.



Here in Baltimore, a colorful local character called Shorty found an old toilet, papered it over with news articles, a transmitter and a cell phone, and left it on a city lawn. He also left a bedpost in front of a local prayer garden, then posted about it on Facebook.

Say if you have a problem, give it to GOD. Well we gonna see what the Catholic Church does for Shorty. New Plamsist closed the doors of the Church on me because I named Con Cummings as a Judas. And just like Moses I'm marking the Doors of the people and I asking to give up my citizenship. Don't want to live in a Country of White Justice and Black Justice while you promote equality across the Airwaves. Get Shorty. Well Maryland you got more of me than you really want to deal with. This is a REAL GHETTO STORY.

But Shorty raised the wrong sort of stir:

The discovery of the toilet outside the former courthouse — which now houses the County Council chambers and some of the county's administrative offices — triggered a shutdown of surrounding streets and the attentions of a bomb disposal squad. It was found to be harmless.

According to the Sun, Shorty aka Duane Davis is now in jail in lieu of $200,000 bond, charged with leaving a fake destructive device and making false statements. On his show tonight Marc Steiner said Shorty used to own a great place to get ribs, and has a history of political statements. But he's in good artistic company.