MotG: What is Art?

[Rhea]

There’s so much art out in the world, but is it really art.  The definition of art is “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture”.  

Lets add some more though… photography, architecture, graffiti, acting and digital art. There are many more!

 

There are several ways you could go about defining art.

 

I could tell you that art plays a large part in making our lives infinitely rich. Imagine, just for a minute, a world without art! (You may think "So what?" but please consider the impact that lack of graphics would

have on your favorite video game.) Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole gamut of emotions in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express

ourselves. For some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. You could say "Art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded humans."

 

On the other hand, art is such a large part of our everyday lives that we may hardly even stop to think about it. Look at the desk or table where you are, right this minute. Someone designed that. It is art.

Your shoes are art. Your coffee cup is art. All functional design, well done, is art. So, you could say "Art is something that is both functional and (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing to our eyes."

 

You might say "Art is in a constant state of change, so nobody can really pin down what it is." The constant change part is true, but the not pinning it down part is rubbish.

 

You might even say "Art is subjective, and means something different to every single person on earth." This, too, is the truth.

 

Wish so many forms of art in the world I am interested in hearing about YOUR definition and what art means to you!

 

 

 

Discuss!

 

[WildTaltos]

i feell art is supposed to make you think very deepply, but mor than that its suposed to make yuo feel somthing powerful, somethinng non-intelectual. somtimes somethin called "art" jus makes me thinkk alot but not feel anything, becuse im confused about it, but Im guesing i just dont understand mayb the symbolls involved so i gues it could be art. sometimes someting called "art" doesnt make me thinkk much or feel anuthing, in which case i wuoldnt even consider it posibly art, its just rubish or else just objject to be used and not much ellse (thogh maybe its art to somone else). that why i wuoldnt call a shoe (unles its a reallly unique-lookin shoe) or a cup (unles it has a shape or a paintin on it that somone obviusly took lot of time on to make) art in anyy sense, becuse t doesnt make me think much - itts just a shoe or a cup - and doesnt make me feel anything, thogh aybe to someone else thats art. i think the feeling part is mostt important in definin art, because its basicaly something you cant define - yuo just know it - and thats why i think its hardd to define art, its one of thos things you cant reallly explain except in esoteric terms thatt are hard to explain themslves lol. i feell lots about lots of things, so to me theres lots of things that are art, things in worlld around me like othre animals and plants and moutains and things and thinggs peple make, lot of things. to me doesnt have to be made by humans to be called art - human artt is lowest form in my opinion becyse lot of times its just a shadow of som other art - it can be made by the gods or selff-determined.

[dawnflower8]

Personally I think everything is art, since everything was designed/created in some way. 

[Elaevia]

hmmmm a bit of a tricky one, because what is art to one person may not  be to someone else (like modern art pieces for example!)

 

for me it's intention in creating something: whether it's the placement of a sculpture or the colours in a painting. Something that goes beyond something that is needed to something that is wanted.

[Mashiara Sedai]

I've always struggled with a definition of what art is.  I think, like Elaevia, it's when someone has the intent to create something.  We typically think of it in aesthetic terms and degrees--judging it by how pretty it is--but that's not always what makes art art.

 

Art can be so individualistic, so coming up with a universal definition may be impossible.