listen to part of a lecture in an art history class. I want to shift our focus a little bit today, the art we\'ve been discussing, the various movements, all produced art one would expect to see in a museum or gallery, but there\'s a type of art called ephemeral art, that\'s not typically seen in museums. And ephemeral art, well, we\'re used to looking at paintings or sculptures that have a sense of permanence, that were created in part to preserve the image of a scene or a person or a particular moment in time, but this genre of art is different. It\'s created with the intention of having a finite life. It\'s not meant to last forever, and its fleeting and impermanent nature should be evident to the audience. Did anyone happen to see the university art magazine from last month there was a review written about the works of artist Nicole dexterous. Nicole dexterous, oh, I\'ve read that article. So what can you tell us about her work? John, she had a series of sculptures called weed robes made from things like grass and flowers, twigs and branches. And the idea was that she\'d leave each sculpture outside, and eventually it would fall apart and disintegrate good. She also made some massive sculptures in ice, clearly not the most stable material to work with. And I want to look at two points the author made. First, that the only purpose of ephemeral art is to stress impermanence, and secondly, that ephemeral art is something that\'s exclusively modern. You know, when John mentioned the sculptures made from grass and flowers, it reminded me of traditional African art. I studied another class, so I can see what you\'re getting at. It\'s not a new concept. I\'m really glad you mentioned that when I first saw those weed robe sculptures, I was reminded of elaborate leaf costumes used in Africa, specifically in Burkina Faso. And these would be very traditional examples of ephemeral art. These are designs that have been recreated within communities for centuries. I am still a little confused about what you said about museums and all a little earlier. I mean, I\'ve actually seen some really fragile natural fiber masks in museums before. That\'s certainly possible. After all, museum curators have ways of stabilizing organic degradable materials so they can be viewed almost indefinitely. So yes, on occasion, we can see ephemeral art in museums. The question is, should it be there? It may not be possible to understand a piece\'s true worth in the context of a museum or gallery. We have to realize that what\'s meant to endure is not the object itself, but rather the idea behind the object I mean, for instance, the leaf costumes I mentioned are used for a ceremony. Performers in these costumes enter a village from the east covered in bright green fresh leaves, as if they\'re born with the rising sun. they perform all throughout the day, and then later exit to the west and symbolically die with the setting sun. And after the performance, the costumes are actually destroyed. So the ceremony symbolically goes through the whole life cycle, birth, life and death in a day interesting. Ultimately, there are many ideas that ephemeral materials can help artists get across. I mean, consider Nicole Dexter\'s impermanence certainly isn\'t her only match her sculptures also express her thoughts about the fashion industry and the extent of its influence. On the other hand, in Burkina Faso, the leaf costumes communicate a completely different point respect for a particular cultural tradition. Those artists intentionally select the materials their ancestors before them used. It\'s making a statement about their beliefs, choosing to use another medium would be considered a form of betrayal to their community and its values. Now it\'s kind of ironic, actually, because in this particular example, there is something permanent being celebrated as well, the endurance of culture and tradition across generations, which means that at least in this instance, degradable material isn\'t just speaking to us about how all things are temporary. There\'s also a statement here about the importance of things that will last.