Archangels and Watts Towers w/TP query

[Hartwin Alfred Gebhardt]

john m re the Watts Towers

> It's a wonderland, no foolin.  A place fit for archangels, and preterite too.

Question: 
If smelly squishy yucky ('real') garbage is part of the preterite's daily 
slog, is gargabe-artistically-transformed still preterite? Or does preterite 
only _become_ 'preterite' once one mixes artistic vision (schmision) 
with junk, and then allows someone literate (enough) to look at it?

hg
hag at iafrica.com