In a recent trip to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I stood in front of Heide Fasnacht’s Sneeze IV from 2003 (punctured paper) and couldn’t help but think, “Hm.. I guess that is what a sneeze would look like” (if it became tactile, that is). As I looked at it, enjoying Fasnacht’s flippancy, I wondered what else this hallway had to offer. But when I glanced to its side, I suddenly switched from enjoying a clever piece of art to analyzing curatorial decisions and the impermanence of art.

Sneeze IV hangs next to Sigmar Polke’s Untitled from 1988 (black ink and stenciled spray paint on paper). Looking at Untitled, all I could do was chuckle a little, thinking “Well that looks like a sneeze, too.” For some reason, however, I don’t think the post-war German artist aimed to represent a sneeze.

The most astounding aspect of curatorial decisions is that they allow for interpretation – and misinterpretation – of art that otherwise may not have been considered. Unless I’m in the middle of one, sneezing is not frequently on my mind, so I cannot imagine I would have ever seen Untitled and thought “sneeze.” (Or, for that matter, seen Sneeze IV and thought “sneeze,” if not for the title.) By viewing Polke’s work this way, I began to consider the organic quality of a work that otherwise would have made me think of machines and mass production, with its repeated dot pattern, layers of design, and shades of grey.

Artwork on the whole, however, is organic and ephemeral. It comes from within (its maker, ie, the artist) and is put onto a piece of paper (or canvas; or shaped into a form; or is a recorded moment). The features that make up the – at least in these two instances – are permanent. The dots and lines that float in the foreground of Untitled look like they are about to move, but they will not go anywhere. They will exist as is for as long as the work exists.

The work as a whole, however, can be torn, burnt, or have coffee poured on it. It can be ruined. It may represent something mechanical, but it is not as sturdy as a building or the objects of an industrial age. Art, as I was reminded by this pairing, is always just as ephemeral as a sneeze.