Performance Project: Validation

My performance is a video documentation of the time I spent standing on my street corner on the outskirts of Bucyrus with a sign reading, "Honk if this is art."  For some reason, this is the first thing that popped into my head when I learned about this assignment, and it stuck with me the entire day.  What really pushed me to do it, though, was when I told my mom about my idea.  Her first reaction was, "What? That's not art!"
So, I made my sign and walked out to my street corner, which is in the middle of a pretty rural area.  There are fields and a barn right across from me.  I believe my environment played a huge role in the reactions I received.  I stood out in the cold for fifteen minutes at least and only received one honk and a thumbs up from a little old lady.  A few others waved, but most just kept driving by.  Also, I'm sure it probably took some people a little while to even figure out what I was doing and had already passed me by then.
So, does art exist if the artist claims it to be art?  Or does the work only become art if others validate it as art?  These were the questions that I was trying to explore.  Art is very subjective.  If I had been on a busy street corner in San Francisco or New York, I probably would have received numerous honks.  In the rural area of Bucyrus, Ohio, though, I probably only got honked at because of my effort of standing out in the bitter cold.  Abstract art is always under question of its validity.  My art in this instance was all about validation.  That one little old lady brightened my day with her honk.  Without it, I probably would have felt the need to try my sign on a different corner or just talk about how no one around here understands abstract art.  But that one little lady gave my piece validation and showed me that even in the most rural, traditional area, abstract works and performances can be validated as "art."