Beer, Art and Philosophy The Art of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art

"I would encourage everyone to get to know the work of Tom Marioni. There are many discoveries and delights there. I keep finding new things. It won't make you a better person but will make you happy to be the one you are. --Sol LeWitt" Tom Marioni's 1970 exhibition, The Art of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art, was a forerunner of a type of Conceptual art prevalent today that involves eating, drinking and other social activities. In this book, a memoir, Marioni demystifies and defines Conceptual art and answers the question, "What is art for?" Thomas McEvilley, in the introduction, enlarges the historic context, comparing early Conceptual art activities in New York to the work of California artists like Marioni and John Baldessari, who embraced directness and humor and overleapt New York to find an audience in Europe. Of Marioni's writing, McEvilley says, "A fact is stated after a fact, and the meaning of putting them together comes through with a direct clarity like seeing."Marioni, Tom is the author of 'Beer, Art and Philosophy The Art of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art', published 2004 under ISBN 9781891300172 and ISBN 1891300172.