In this modified version of a chapter in his forthcoming book, ART AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2008-09), Professor Bezanson begins to probe the nature of art and its relation to the first amendment free speech guarantee. The essay uses the Finley v. NEA case, and specifically its discussion of Finley\u27s performance art, to critique the Supreme Court\u27s very approach to the Finley case, and to view the issues from the perspective of art, artistic freedom, and the Supreme Court\u27s role in fashioning constitutional protection for art as art, and not simply as cognitive speech
