B.

But is it art?

Behind the scenes

Art took over from adverts in the streets of Britain this summer

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22,000 advertising spaces, large billboards, bus-stops, the sides of taxis and the backs of buses, were used to display art as part of the Art Everywhere project, devised by Richard Reed.

With 30,000 Facebook likes and favourable comments like 'Art shouldn't be limited to the galleries' and 'Art should be everywhere. Very nice idea' it seems everyone just loved it.

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And while seeing a reproduction of a Constable may be more agreeable than seeing an advert for a cellphone or a supermarket, this project raises some serious questions. Is seeing a reproduction just as good as seeing the real thing? In which case why does the Tate Gallery put so much effort into looking after the original? Is it okay to see Constables 10 times bigger than they were painted? In all weathers? And just for a few seconds from within a moving vehicle? From hundreds of metres away?

Does viewing art in these circumstances satisfy the need for artistic encounters and make it less likely that people will care about seeing the real thing? Or does it make it more likely that people will want to go to the Gallery and see the authentic painting, to see Constable's real brushstrokes and to contemplate them for as long as they like?