An artwork can outlive the argument it was made to enter and acquire another one.

Work made to settle an argument often outlives the argument entirely. The quarrel it was born from fades, and the object remains, available to be read by people who bring completely different concerns to it. What was a weapon becomes a landscape, and the meaning is genuinely new rather than a misreading.

So make the thing rather than only winning the point. Positions age quickly and objects age slowly. And when you encounter old work, do not assume you need the original controversy to be entitled to it. What it means to you now is one of its real meanings, not a lesser substitute for the intended one.