When we talk about art, most of us mean visual art - painting, drawing, collage. But we have plenty of that stuff, folks. How about laser art, earth art, air art, sound art or fungus art? What about fiber art? Just kidding. Here's the point - let's mix it up. As the art scene breathes heavy, trying to push a rock up a hill that keeps getting steeper, maybe we need something fresh, something new. Remember, for an avant-garde to exist, art must be going somewhere. Here are a few ideas and a bit of inspiration:

Air art

Last year, Brooklyn-based artist Daniel Wurtzel unleashed The Feather Fountain - a broad basin that sent feathers swirling 25 feet into the air. Controlled airflow allowed the feathers to drift back to the basin, with onlookers encouraged to grab the feathers and toss them into the mini-maelstrom.

Earth art

NASA has a sweet Web site dedicated to the works of mama nature. Aerial photographs depict, for example, an intricate maze of small lakes and waterways that define the Yukon Delta at the confluence of Alaska's Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers with the frigid Bering Sea. It's some of the most beautiful imagery you'll ever see.

Lightning art

The Lightning Field, created in 1977 by American sculptor Walter De Maria, consists of 400 polished stainless steel poles installed in a grid array measuring one mile by one kilometer in a remote desert plane in New Mexico. The curators suggest the work does not require lightning to be enjoyed.

Shroom art

With all the fungus growing around here, fungus art has all sorts of potential in Tacoma. Remember, don't eat the art.

Land art

According to the people behind the movement, the goal of the Land Art Generator Initiative is to design and construct Land Art/Environmental Art installations that have the added benefit of large-scale clean energy generation. Each land art sculpture has the potential to provide power to thousands of homes. Awesome.

Sound art

Sound art? Don't you mean music? No. Talk to people who really love sound, and they'll tell you music is just the beginning. Sound art incorporates manipulation of sound at every level - from field recordings lovingly manipulated with digital technology to collections of natural sounds from unexpected sources.

Joe Malik is a jaded, ornery, "power to the people type" that can't help but comment on all the stupid and or questionable stuff he sees within the arts community. The Volcano doesn't always agree with what he says, they just like to stir the pot.