What is altered art?

One rather obvious way to interpret this phrase would be to say that it involves the alteration or combination of existing works of art to produce new pieces of artwork.

However, most people would understand the term 'altered art' to mean the transformation of ordinary everyday objects into decorative pieces using a wide variety of different techniques and materials, for example, fibres, fabrics, paint, paper and rubber stamps.

This expression appears to be used to describe many artistic styles or genres, but at its most basic implies the giving of new life to all sorts of commonplace and functional (or perhaps even useless) items as ornamental objects.