What Is Art?

By Jaclyn Hawtin

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. The word esthetically which comes second relates to something beautiful. The word entity can be looked at as an entity of sorts. After taking all three of these words into consideration 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 another word that can be interpreted in many different ways because it can be used to define anything, an act, a noun, or even a time period. Here we recognize a conscious effort to unveil the beauty in something.

There are many art authors who similarly recognize three major characteristics in works of art. Although some of these authors observe more we will only go over 4 of them for now.

First and foremost the most obvious characteristic of art is that it is made by men and also that it is intentional. Whatever the medium be it painting, sculpture, film, dance, or theatre we know that art is created for the purpose of being a type of art. It is created from something (elements) be it paint, words, waves of sound and all formed through expression.

Another characteristic of art is that these works of art always exhibit the artists feelings, thoughts, and attitudes. Through these 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 painting, or song, or piece that is created is made out of scratch, it is a product of that artists mind. Artists have the ability to take things apart, then take those pieces and reform them into something new.

In order for something to be considered an artwork means that the general public has to accept that it is art in the first place. In other words, people have to believe art is art to make it art. This does not mean that the art has to be appreciated, it can actually be hated as long as people recognize it as "art". - 30435

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