What Is Art?
When looking at a blank canvas with just a few small paint strokes, it is easy to question what actually constitutes as art. How can something that appears like it could be done by anyone in just a few minutes be worth the spectacle and grandeur of a museum or gallery?
The truth is almost anything can be art if someone views it to be. In fact, from my perspective, the only thing differentiating those items that are art and those that are not is enough important people attributing artistic value to it. How artistic value is quantified is based on a wide variety of variables but it often comes down to if a specific work is worth looking at by communicating a message or emotion worth spending time with. When it comes down to it art has no intrinsic value unless the collective people give it worth. This is the very reason that Van Gogh died poor having only sold one painting in his life yet a single painting of his will sell for hundreds of millions of dollars today.
More personally, I find art to be an experience worth having. A picture or music or painting that makes me feel some kind of emotion deeply, such as a feeling of wonder or sadness or joy or worry. I suppose I don't necessarily need to have an emotion to see the value as long as I know that there is one, even if I feel the connection to it.
In reading this definition it is very easy to see how almost anything can be art, making it easier to understand what art is more but what is not art. I think that anything purely informational is not art but once it takes the step to mean more than face value it can become art. To understand this I can give an example. Writing in itself is not, plain journalism such as the blog post that I am currently typing would never be seen as an artwork of any kind. However, poetry and fiction is art because it transcends pure information and tells a deeper meaning. Though it can seem to be as simple as a short story, that short story could tell something deeper about the human condition or maybe a cautionary tale about young love. In any case, the point is that true art has meaning beyond just purpose.
Outside of this definition, however, I think that art can be anything. Of course, there are the traditional forms of art such as painting, music, and literature but I also think that art can exist as a building or clothing or gardening or even makeup. I think that when people think of art, they get so caught up in the traditional fine arts that they forget the larger meaning of art. I think that this mindset takes away the power of many people who are an artist within nontraditional forms of art. Why should someone who has spent just a few years painting is labeled as an artist while a craftsman who has been woodworking and making incredibly detailed birdhouses be seen as “a crafter”.
When thinking about what art can do, I think that art has its own kind of power. While this can be difficult to quantify how much power any specific piece of work has, there is no doubt that exists. Art has the power to bring joy to the masses through pop music or inspire intellectual revolutions like the renaissance. It can be a way for cultures to define themselves such as tribal symbols or way for regimes to control people through propaganda. This power is important that many dictators throughout history have sought to fight it through censorship like Hitler burning paintings that he did not like and ISIS destroying ancient buildings and vases of past cultures.
For me, art has been a constant in my life. From a very early age, my mother sought to give me an education of many types of art. Taking me to rock concerts from just three weeks old, she instilled in me a very profound love of music that has been consistent for my entire life. Not only do love listening to ar music but I find a lot of joy in singing and I also, very poorly, played the violin and flute for 8 years though I never reached any level of artistic skill past proficiency. I also have been knitting for 12 years and I find a great deal of artistic enjoyment in writing new patterns and making full pieces. I have also tried to educate myself in painting and visual arts and I have always loved going to the Art Institute of Chicago and other museums around the city.
Though I know that not everyone shares such deep connections to art as I do, I wish that everyone would recognize the beauty and importance of art.
The truth is almost anything can be art if someone views it to be. In fact, from my perspective, the only thing differentiating those items that are art and those that are not is enough important people attributing artistic value to it. How artistic value is quantified is based on a wide variety of variables but it often comes down to if a specific work is worth looking at by communicating a message or emotion worth spending time with. When it comes down to it art has no intrinsic value unless the collective people give it worth. This is the very reason that Van Gogh died poor having only sold one painting in his life yet a single painting of his will sell for hundreds of millions of dollars today.
More personally, I find art to be an experience worth having. A picture or music or painting that makes me feel some kind of emotion deeply, such as a feeling of wonder or sadness or joy or worry. I suppose I don't necessarily need to have an emotion to see the value as long as I know that there is one, even if I feel the connection to it.
In reading this definition it is very easy to see how almost anything can be art, making it easier to understand what art is more but what is not art. I think that anything purely informational is not art but once it takes the step to mean more than face value it can become art. To understand this I can give an example. Writing in itself is not, plain journalism such as the blog post that I am currently typing would never be seen as an artwork of any kind. However, poetry and fiction is art because it transcends pure information and tells a deeper meaning. Though it can seem to be as simple as a short story, that short story could tell something deeper about the human condition or maybe a cautionary tale about young love. In any case, the point is that true art has meaning beyond just purpose.
Outside of this definition, however, I think that art can be anything. Of course, there are the traditional forms of art such as painting, music, and literature but I also think that art can exist as a building or clothing or gardening or even makeup. I think that when people think of art, they get so caught up in the traditional fine arts that they forget the larger meaning of art. I think that this mindset takes away the power of many people who are an artist within nontraditional forms of art. Why should someone who has spent just a few years painting is labeled as an artist while a craftsman who has been woodworking and making incredibly detailed birdhouses be seen as “a crafter”.
When thinking about what art can do, I think that art has its own kind of power. While this can be difficult to quantify how much power any specific piece of work has, there is no doubt that exists. Art has the power to bring joy to the masses through pop music or inspire intellectual revolutions like the renaissance. It can be a way for cultures to define themselves such as tribal symbols or way for regimes to control people through propaganda. This power is important that many dictators throughout history have sought to fight it through censorship like Hitler burning paintings that he did not like and ISIS destroying ancient buildings and vases of past cultures.
For me, art has been a constant in my life. From a very early age, my mother sought to give me an education of many types of art. Taking me to rock concerts from just three weeks old, she instilled in me a very profound love of music that has been consistent for my entire life. Not only do love listening to ar music but I find a lot of joy in singing and I also, very poorly, played the violin and flute for 8 years though I never reached any level of artistic skill past proficiency. I also have been knitting for 12 years and I find a great deal of artistic enjoyment in writing new patterns and making full pieces. I have also tried to educate myself in painting and visual arts and I have always loved going to the Art Institute of Chicago and other museums around the city.
Though I know that not everyone shares such deep connections to art as I do, I wish that everyone would recognize the beauty and importance of art.
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