What is art? Most likely, it's a philosophical question, since different people would answer it differently: Some think of art galleries when hearing this word; others refuse to acknowledge Malevich's Black Square as a piece of art; although DeviantART seems to be optimized for graphic arts they also accept literature; and there are many people fighting for the acknowledgement of video games as an art genre.
Personally I don't exclude anything from the definition of art. There are so many ways to be creative and express oneself that a simple classification in "this is art" and "this is not art" is absurd. On the other hand, however, this attitude makes a clear definition of art impossible. So how can we understand it?
We can talk much about painting. Or dancing. Or poetry. About designing furniture or making music with garbage. But what do all these have in common? What are their differences and specifics? What does art exist for? I want to try and cover all art forms in one blog, not diving too deeply into particular genres but trying to define art as a whole. Despite knowing that there will never be a final answer. The question about the definition and purpose of art is for me almost the same as the question about the meaning of life. Because if art can be anything, then art is life.
So let's think about art and try to understand life together! :)
Art is not life but for some of of it is essentially the same thing. Other people can substitute words like religion or politics where we use the word art. I agree that anything can be art but I feel most things are not because there is no intent, no human communication in, say, a cloud or an ink spot.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the intent. In an article I defined art as "any kind of creative production or service". While something that just happens accidentally, like a cloud or an ink spot, is not art, taking a photo or drawing it can absolutely be a work of art.
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