You can apply this question to any expression, I suppose, and whatever conclusion you reach, at least someone will disagree with you.

Take the following photo, for example:

What do we call this? Vandalism, graffiti, aesthetic utterance? Is it a monument to an embarrassing incident, the emblem of an underground movement, or a visibility campaign launched by an ill-named but aspiring garage band? Someone had something to say, I’m convinced. I’m just not sure what it is.

But the pole is certainly more interesting than it was before.

And then there’s the photo itself, which is beautiful. Look at that rust, the chain link fence, the broken sidewalk in the background. Thanks, Drew, for sending this my way. And let me know if you ever get to the bottom of the mystery.