Introduction to Art/What is Art?
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Art is artifice: it is the creation of a thing not by Nature itself but by the will of some person or group. The art so created can be visual art, meant to be seen; it can be music or poetry, meant to be heard; it can be a novel to read, a play to watch or a dance to take part in; it can be buildings or clothing; digital or virtual; it can be the disciplined training of plants or animals. So broad is the possible definition of "art" that some say one can make an art out of living life itself.
In more familiar terms, art usually defined as that which was made in order to express feelings, communicate information, make a philosophical point, entertain someone or beautify one's surroundings.
Art is differentiated from science in that science has a generally accepted method and somewhat of a common purpose. Even so, the two may overlap: scientists sometimes feel that their work approaches the aesthetic dimension of art; artists sometimes feel that they have explored their subject matter with scientific precision.
Throughout time, art has not always been made by individual artists, or even by people who would dare to identify themselves as artists. Some of the most ancient and profound art is "folk art," created by anonymous people under unknown circumstances. Folk art may be religious in nature--perhaps even be an attempt to create a magical object. It may have been made by itinerant or untrained artists. If it is old, it may not have been considered art at all at the time of its creation: it is only with modern eyes that we see such an object as the product of creativity, and hence as art.
In the twenty-first century, the question "what is art?" has been debated for so long that we now tend to accept Marcel Duchamp's definition, "Art is whatever an artist says it is", as self-evident.
Today, we also accept that industrial and graphic design are forms of art. These forms, like the old folk art mentioned above, were once not considered art at all. But now they have taken their place alongside painting and poetry; the artisan, or skilled worker practicing a trade or handicraft, is an artist if he calls himself one. And that means art can be everywhere--from the shoes on your feet to the car you drive to the teacup you sip from. We have functional art (objects you use) and art pour l'art (art for its own sake). We have "high" art and "low" art (whatever you wish those divisions to signify!), high street fashion and Haute Couture, "real" art and "kitsch".
Today's world is a world of possibility. Although it is (and perhaps has always been) fashionable to groan that "true art is dying out", such a thing can never happen. As long as there are people who want to create, there will be artists. And artists make art.
