Die Kunst der Kunst

Art is that thing having to do only with itself – the product of a successful attempt to make a work of art. Unfortunately, there are no examples of art, nor good reasons to think that it will ever exist. (Everything that has been made has been made with a purpose, everything with an end that exists outside that thing, i.e., ›I want to sell this‹, or ›I want this to make me famous and loved‹, or ›I want this to make me whole‹, or worse, ›I want this to make others whole‹.) And yet we continue to write, paint, sculpt, and compose. Is this foolish of us?
(Jonathan Safran Foer – Everything is Illuminated)