What is ART?

[SerriaFox]

What is Art?

When you use the word "ART" in a sentence does that require a certain quality?

For me, just paint and canvas do not make "art". Something more is required. While I have seen paintings that I would call art, many paintings I see do not live up to the word "Art". Is that true for you?

 

[Cutlass]

Art is what makes people feel something. Much art has appeal to some, but not others. That does not make it not art. It is the emotional reaction that makes it art. If no one at all even takes note of it, then it's not really art. But as long as it speaks to the emotions of some, then it is art.

 

[aelf]

Art is something, and yet it's nothing; art excludes some things, and yet it can also include everything.

A semantic discussion of art is uninteresting because you will simply get a catalogue of different views on what art means, probably without much of a common ground by which to reach a consensus. A discussion of why some people think certain things are art and why other people disagree would probably have to involve the notion of taste.

 

[madviking]

I think it's infinitely easier to define art exclusively.

But... even things like the "anti-art" movement end up being art. So I find it that there isn't anything that isn't art (even "nothing" can become art).

 

[Ajidica]

When I use it in a sentence I generaly am referring to 'traditional' art; paintings, sculptures, drawings, mosaics, and so on. The quality of the art will be conveyed by my tone and word choice.

 

[Communisto]

imo, the expression of emotions in audio or visual representation.

Though, I also think the word has a parallel meaning toward an incredibly finely honed skill or craft.

 

[jtb1127]

Anything that is visually or audibly appeasing.

 

[CivCube]

A clear communication of thought and feeling, often conveyed through a format and technique meant to amplify its effect.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

A clear communication of thought and feeling.

By this, are you suggesting that almost any sentence or partial-sentence on this forum can be considered art? Granted, some are not very clear, but they do communicate some kind of thought/feeling...

 

[CivCube]

It's certainly a spectrum. Some posts may theoretically be so profound and moving that they may be artistic essays in themselves. Others may simply be little scraps of expression that fall by the wayside. Because message boards are simply online intellectual correspondence, the format allows for both to be possible. If you've read snail mail correspondences between famous writers, their letters are often good enough to be reprinted into books and considered art.

 

[aelf]

Here's a question to anyone: Must art be visual or aural? Can something taste like, feel like or smell like art?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I always thought my grandmother's fried whitefish was a work of art (taste-wise).

 

[Tycho]

Anything that makes you feel for something is art.

 

[Formaldehyde]

To a great extent art is such a subjective and personal thing.

There are many works of art that I don't personally enjoy, such as those depicting scenes from the Bible. While I can certainly admire the technique and the skill required, the subject matter simply doesn't interest me. I can't help but wonder what the artists could have created if their interests were a bit broader than confining themselves to that subject and portraits of rich and powerful people of their time. I'd much rather look at just about any modern work instead, even those which are considered by many to not even be art.

There are entire wings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan that I have never visited. But I always went through the Impressionism section on every visit, even though I had been there over a dozen times before. I was even far more interested in their medieval armor collection. I imagine many have never been in that wing given how few people I ever saw there.

But I still have no difficulty understanding that some consider what I don't particularly enjoy to be great art, and that they may very well feel the same way towards religious paintings as I do towards Impressionism and modern art.

 

[Boundless]

Art is entirely subjective. That's all you can describe it as. A subjective something. I don't think you can even specify it down to object/sound/etc because in my eyes imagination and dreaming is art too.

 

[Atticus]

Here's a question to anyone: Must art be visual or aural? Can something taste like, feel like or smell like art?

Does the English word "art" include literature?

It's quite an extraordinary art form, since it's just thoughts or phrases.

I wonder what people would say if someone tried to produce feeling- or smell-art.

Anyhow, I'd define it from the intention of the maker and that it indeed is a made thing. The intentions should be to bring up some aesthetic emotions. I think there's the possibility that the intention is to make money, but then it's to make money via the aesthetic emotions.