What Does Art Mean to You?

Mona Lisa

What is art? It’s a question that was been debated for hundreds of years, and the answer is as elusive as ever.

The definition of art is elusive, particularly since art also appeals to human emotions. It’s difficult and possibly impossible to come up with a single definition that will include all forms of art and please everybody.

Art or the phrase abstract art painting as defined by the dictionary is more of a form or an act of sorts. It is also defined as “a conscious esthetically meaningful arrangement of elements.” This definition is very confusing and if you pay close attention really does not give you much of a definition. In order to clear up some of the confusion lets do an analysis of the definitions and keywords.

Conscious the first word to be examined literally means intentional. After that comes the word esthetically which is a reference to something in the beautiful realm. The third word “entity” which is the most prominent can be translated into an entity of sorts.

After careful calculation we can now translate the definition a bit further in saying that art is executed deliberately, that art can be organized in a particular manner, and that there has to be some sense of beauty to it.

Beauty is a word that can be interpreted in many different ways this is because it can be used to define anything, a noun, a time period, or even an act. Here we recognize a conscious effort to unveil the beauty in something.

There are many art authors who all recognize 3 major characteristics in all art pieces. Some of these authors list more than this, but we will for now we will only go over 4 of them.

The first and most obvious characteristic of art is that it is man-made and also that it is intentional. Whatever the medium be it painting, sculpture, film, dance, or theatr it was created for the purpose of being a work of art. Art is made out of something (elements) be it paint, words, waves of sound which are all formed through a type of expression

Another characteristic of art is that these works of art always exhibit the artists attitudes, feelings, and thoughts. Through these pieces or compositions expressions are then able to be communicated and instilled into the general public.

The third and most exciting characteristic of art is that it is original. Every piece or play or song that has ever been created is done from scratch, it is the result of the culmination of experiences that artist has had in their lives. Artists have the ability to take things apart, then take those pieces and reform them into something new.

The last common characteristic of art is that people accept that it is art. If art is to be art then people must believe so. Art does not require that it be appreciated, it can even be considered disgraceful as long as society recognizes it as art.