The Definition of Art

#art #arthistory #artists

Thanks to our Grandmasters of the Arts Divide By Zero Collection and David Golden, and to all of our patrons, especially Anthony Chivetta, Rich Clarey, Iain Eudailey, Tom Forwood, Patrick Hanna, Andrew Huynh, Eve Leonard, Audrey Mak Tung, David Moore, Jane Quale, Gabriel Civita Ramirez, Andrew Sheeler, Boris Silantiev, Josh Thomas, Constance Urist, and Roberta Zaphiriou. We are more grateful for you than you'll ever know!

[peterbarrington]

"Art is" is one of my favourite definitions. As long as we exist, so will it. The bond is unrelenting and inevitable.

[souda]

“art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” - cesar a. cruz

[CVS]

Seneca was a stoic philosopher and the definition of "nature" according with stoicism is quite different to what we understand by it. Nature is not a forest, plants or the ocean, for the stoics "nature" is “the way things work” and it involves everything we can and can't imagine or understand: the cosmos, the mind, the body, the emotions, tangible or intangible. In that sense, the definition given by Seneca is really appealing to me: "All art is but imitation of the way things work". It could be how things work for the artist while creating or the observer while interaction with the art work. It's a very open and dynamic definition in my opinion.

[lorenabpv]

i know bookshelf tours are a thing of the internet's past, but your shelf as a backdrop (not sure if it was an intentional choice or just a pandemic choice) makes me want to know more about your book collection

also i like what you said about being transported into the past when consuming art of another time and feeling the existence of other people as people. both far into the past (because i lose perspective) and recent past that is a different past for me as it is for other people (like, say, music from the 80s, before i was born, being meaningful to a family member). art is indeed the gap.

[Ad_Astra]

“ To define is to limit.”
- Oscar Wilde

[gokupniak]

I went to a religious school, growing up. Often, frustrations ruled my experiences in church. Boredom and disconnection. My first trip to an art museum filled me with wonder, awe, and empathy. The artist expressions taught me more about humanity than hundreds of Sunday morning congregations. Art is the process in which one human communicates with another.

[celadon]

My favorite Peanuts comic strip is a one panel strip of Lucy looking at Linus' just finished snowman and asking " But is it art? " .

[TeaDrinker]

It's my understanding that you guys will be taking a break soon. I want to thank you for everything you've provided us with over the years. Education is one of the greatest gifts we have in life, I'm very grateful to have found your channel and to have learned from your extensive research/production.

[charlotteice]

I really like the following quote from Cesar A. Cruz: "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
I have recently heard of a 6.5 h long music album series by Caretaker called "Everywhere at the end of time" that aims to illustrate what it is like to have dementia by having what sounds like old records at first slowly degrade into noise and I read this quote in association with that because from what I've heard, that album is really heartbreaking.

[ndrdst]

What is Art?
Baby, don't paint me, don't paint me
no more

[Pingwn]

"Art is medium of communicating ideas, meaning and emotions by interpretation."
This is the best definition I have...

[myrthonjoselitomagno]

For me, ART is an Aesthetic Realization of our Thoughts. As we know, arts refer to visual, literary, and performing arts, as well as other forms of creative expression. Aesthetic, on the other hand, refers to the principles and concepts that govern the perception and appreciation of beauty. In other words, art is the product of creative expression, while aesthetic is the study of how we perceive and respond to that art.

[choedzin]

Art: what artists do; artist: someone who does art

[tone]

Loved this video. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about music, Luciano Berio's "Music is everything that one listens to with the intention of listening to music." It's not quite the definition I use, but it's close, and I think does a good job capturing the inherent subjectivity and experientialism of music, and art in general.

[BrianHutzellMusic]

My favorite explanation of what makes art comes from Frank Zappa. (He was using this explanation to also explain what makes music.) He says it’s the frame, in the metaphoric sense. Example: If I drop a can of paint on the floor, then simply clean it up, that was not art; it was just a mess. But If I drop a can of paint on the floor and decide I really like the result, I can call it art. Maybe I don’t even save it, but at least for a moment, it was art. Or I can deliberately drop a can of paint on the floor, calling it art even before it’s created. The creator can add the frame, and so can a viewer. Did prehistoric people knowingly create art, or were they just doing something that pleased them? In this case, we have added the frame and now call it art. Or if someone sees the result of my dropped can of paint, even if I just planned to clean it up, the viewer may like it and call it art, even if that was not my intent.

[CleverButClueless]

I like to think about art in a way that the artist is giving me a building block, a new insight, with which i build my world. The more building blocks I get, the more elaborate and closer to truth my world is.

Thank you, Art Assignment!

[mjmagpayo]

"art is a shape of water."
as an growing artist I've notice how art is capable of shaping peoples mind, how free its is and how art is for everyone to understand with.

[PrincessOfTheYew]

I love the idea that art is not always emotional expression. I think some people, myself included, can be bogged down by the idea that there’s no inspiration without raging emotions hitting you in the face. And so, we falsely believe that our desire to create is unworthy of being experienced. I love the idea that art can be thoughts and that it doesn’t have to be beautiful. Thank you so much for these definitions. 💖

[vodostudio]

It's funny that I can't think of anything to explain art even tho I'm an artist.

[armandol.dominguez]

"art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images to achieve changes in consciuosness" -Alan Moore