is it art, or what?

VS.

Marcel Duchamp’s art piece called La Fontain is a man's urinal, incase you could not see its bluntness. It was named the most influential modern art work of all time in the early 1900's.

I decided to post the image because I am currently writing one of my take home exam essays for my Communication, Technology, and Culture class. I just so happen to be discussing the image in the paper, and I decided to discuss it here as well. 

 

How can a urinal be art? Perhaps, because anything can be put through the creative process and take any form.  But, is that really the case? 

There are some people out there that are unbelievably gifted when it comes to art who can use only a pencil and paper and make a beautiful portrait or landscape drawing. Others use their creativity to produce distortions of faces, actions, and words. What about graffiti bombs? They're epic. But no, no, this right here is a fountain of human waste. I don't think I have the right to say that La Fontain is not art, because perhaps to Duchamp it was. But, what if La Fontain was just a dollar sign to Duchamp and not an expression of creativity? Unfortunately, that is the value of art in today's culture. Where some produce art for passion, others produce it for millions.

It's quite funny, actually, because I am not an artistic person whatsoever. I try to be, but when it comes to paints, markers, and rulers, I need mad assistance. I like writing, that's my thing, but for all those people who like art (because that's their thing), how do you think they feel about this urinal business?