Defining Art
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The following definitions are quotes (mostly from practicing artists, both living and dead) collected by myself from various sources over the years.
They are quoted in the hope that from reading them, as a body, it will be possible to acquire some idea of what actually constitutes Art.
><> Ken Smith on 'good art'
"... has truth about it, well made articulate, vital connection between view of the world and a technique and form that match up."
><> Brian Blanchflower to David Bromfield
" I firmly believe that art can be made anywhere at any time with any material- it all depends on the artist."
><> Donald Brook Art and Australia Vol2 No 4
" Art is an activity, attitude, function with significant by-products which can be called art activities, functions."
><> Experimental Art Foundation, Sydney, policy on art activities.
" Art should be an arena of open experimentation."
><> Grace Cossington Smith...to Daniel Thomas,
Art and Australia Vol22 No4 p458
"Art is the expression of ' whatsoever things are lovely', at the same time expressing things unseen - the golden thread running through time."
><> J. Barrell
The Political Theory of Painting from Reynolds to Hazlitt p14
an argument against Plato's claim that painting being so removed from truth was not a worthy occupation for members of the properly run state...
"...Its true function was to represent, not the accidental and irrational appearances of objects, but theideal, the substantial form of things. Painting was thus a liberal art in so far as it was an intellectual activity, disinterested, concerned with objects which, because ideal, could not be possessed; it was an abuse of painting to practice it in pursuit of objects, which, because actual, particular material, could be made the objects of possession and consumption, and thus appeal to our baser, sensual nature."
><> The intention of art?
After J Barrell
The political theory of Painting from Reynolds to Hazlitt p 14.
The expression of ideal form, not just re-presentation of physical appearance
><> A thought initiated by reading
Lloyd Biggle Jnr The Light That Never Was, NEL, 1980.
"Artists are artists only as long as they paint to please themselves"
As soon as they paint to please anyone else (eg a market) then they cease to be worthy of being called artists and may even cease to be artists at all.
In this case, what happens with the status of what they produce for that market, does it cease to be art? Where lies the destinction? How fuzzy can the dividing line be, and still divide the art from the not-art?
><> Me on Fry on Art.
There is something more present than the art object, this something is subjective and, for the viewer, is a learned response. It relates to formal or pictorial elements, and how these interact.
><> Me from reading about Matisse.
Art is about the communication of selected simplifications of experience. The artist should remain aware at all times of what he or she is aiming to achieve, be it decoration or the manipulation of ideas.
><> ><> Me.
><> Me updated 5/12/93.
Art is the result of the expression of observation, of an artist's
experience and understanding of concepts, or objects, through a
culturally defined physical, visual and/or verbal medium.
Communication of universal understanding through aesthetically pleasing objects or events.
(define: aesthetic, aesthetically pleasing, universal.)
><> Me 29/6/97.
Art is a method for the communication of various forms of experience - emotional, intellectual, spiritual, political, and conceptual - within a cultural environment. This communication takes the form of expression, physically and conceptually, of relationships of physical and/or conceptual objects, at one or more contextual level. It is the result of intuitive invention, carried out with a sense of exploration, even of play, and a desire to communicate some concept or experience to others through a physical medium. Art is made by people who identify themselves as artists.
><> Me 19/03/98 - an update of 29/06/97
Art exists as a method of communicating various forms of experience - emotional, intellectual, spiritual, political, and conceptual - within a cultural environment. This communication takes the form of physical and conceptual expression of relationships of physical and/or conceptual objects, at one or more contextual levels.
Artistic communication is the result of intuitive invention undertaken with a sense of exploration, even of play, and a desire to communicate some concept or experience to others through a physical medium. Those who take part in this intuitive invention identify themselves as artists.
The people who come into contact with the objects, or situations, arranged by artists are considered to be the art's audience.
To fully appreciate an artform the person experiencing the art may require some level of understanding - visual, aural, or conceptual - of the medium used, or its manifestation within its current and historical cultural contexts.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Art is more than works,
Art is the result of intuitive invention,
Art is the communication of experience.
Art is the expression physically and conceptually of relationships, of physical and/or conceptual objects, within one or more contexts.
(Be they between physical or intellectual objects, artist and viewer,
thus there is always a context involved)
Art is both medium and message,
Art is self expression,
Art is life,
Art is representation,
the act of making Art is an act of exploration,
the act of making Art is an act of experimentation,
Art is idea,
Art is beauty,
Art is object,
Art is subject,
Art is culture,
Art is contextualised,
Art is institutionalised,
Art is the result of play,
Art is the result of observation,
Art is a marginalised activity in our western society,
Art is symbollic,
Art is form,
Art is functionless.
Art is communication of emotion,
Art is communication of ideas,
Art is communication of concepts,
Art is communication of formal relations,
Art is communication of relationships.
Art is spiritual,
Art includes artifact,
Art is more than a process,
Art is living,
Art is alive,
Art is an obsession for artists,
Art survives.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Me on what art is not.
Art is not pure decoration.
Art is not politics.
Art is not made with ideological motives as its primary reason.
Art is not the artist.
Art is not objects which do not engage the viewer's attention.
Art is not objects which are meaningless (banal, aesthetically uninspiring, lacking in symbollic or informative content).
Art is not the sum of all life, or experience.
Art is not just a process.
Art is not mechanical.
Art is not self adsorbed.
Art is not meaningless or futile (in either production or consumption and appreciation)
Art is not the simple manipulation of a particular medium.
Art is not synonymous with the Artworld.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
They are quoted in the hope that from reading them, as a body, it will be possible to acquire some idea of what actually constitutes Art.
><> Ken Smith on 'good art'
"... has truth about it, well made articulate, vital connection between view of the world and a technique and form that match up."
><> Brian Blanchflower to David Bromfield
" I firmly believe that art can be made anywhere at any time with any material- it all depends on the artist."
><> Donald Brook Art and Australia Vol2 No 4
" Art is an activity, attitude, function with significant by-products which can be called art activities, functions."
><> Experimental Art Foundation, Sydney, policy on art activities.
" Art should be an arena of open experimentation."
><> Grace Cossington Smith...to Daniel Thomas,
Art and Australia Vol22 No4 p458
"Art is the expression of ' whatsoever things are lovely', at the same time expressing things unseen - the golden thread running through time."
><> J. Barrell
The Political Theory of Painting from Reynolds to Hazlitt p14
an argument against Plato's claim that painting being so removed from truth was not a worthy occupation for members of the properly run state...
"...Its true function was to represent, not the accidental and irrational appearances of objects, but theideal, the substantial form of things. Painting was thus a liberal art in so far as it was an intellectual activity, disinterested, concerned with objects which, because ideal, could not be possessed; it was an abuse of painting to practice it in pursuit of objects, which, because actual, particular material, could be made the objects of possession and consumption, and thus appeal to our baser, sensual nature."
><> The intention of art?
After J Barrell
The political theory of Painting from Reynolds to Hazlitt p 14.
The expression of ideal form, not just re-presentation of physical appearance
><> A thought initiated by reading
Lloyd Biggle Jnr The Light That Never Was, NEL, 1980.
"Artists are artists only as long as they paint to please themselves"
As soon as they paint to please anyone else (eg a market) then they cease to be worthy of being called artists and may even cease to be artists at all.
In this case, what happens with the status of what they produce for that market, does it cease to be art? Where lies the destinction? How fuzzy can the dividing line be, and still divide the art from the not-art?
><> Me on Fry on Art.
There is something more present than the art object, this something is subjective and, for the viewer, is a learned response. It relates to formal or pictorial elements, and how these interact.
><> Me from reading about Matisse.
Art is about the communication of selected simplifications of experience. The artist should remain aware at all times of what he or she is aiming to achieve, be it decoration or the manipulation of ideas.
><> ><> Me.
><> Me updated 5/12/93.
Art is the result of the expression of observation, of an artist's
experience and understanding of concepts, or objects, through a
culturally defined physical, visual and/or verbal medium.
Communication of universal understanding through aesthetically pleasing objects or events.
(define: aesthetic, aesthetically pleasing, universal.)
><> Me 29/6/97.
Art is a method for the communication of various forms of experience - emotional, intellectual, spiritual, political, and conceptual - within a cultural environment. This communication takes the form of expression, physically and conceptually, of relationships of physical and/or conceptual objects, at one or more contextual level. It is the result of intuitive invention, carried out with a sense of exploration, even of play, and a desire to communicate some concept or experience to others through a physical medium. Art is made by people who identify themselves as artists.
><> Me 19/03/98 - an update of 29/06/97
Art exists as a method of communicating various forms of experience - emotional, intellectual, spiritual, political, and conceptual - within a cultural environment. This communication takes the form of physical and conceptual expression of relationships of physical and/or conceptual objects, at one or more contextual levels.
Artistic communication is the result of intuitive invention undertaken with a sense of exploration, even of play, and a desire to communicate some concept or experience to others through a physical medium. Those who take part in this intuitive invention identify themselves as artists.
The people who come into contact with the objects, or situations, arranged by artists are considered to be the art's audience.
To fully appreciate an artform the person experiencing the art may require some level of understanding - visual, aural, or conceptual - of the medium used, or its manifestation within its current and historical cultural contexts.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Art is more than works,
Art is the result of intuitive invention,
Art is the communication of experience.
Art is the expression physically and conceptually of relationships, of physical and/or conceptual objects, within one or more contexts.
(Be they between physical or intellectual objects, artist and viewer,
thus there is always a context involved)
Art is both medium and message,
Art is self expression,
Art is life,
Art is representation,
the act of making Art is an act of exploration,
the act of making Art is an act of experimentation,
Art is idea,
Art is beauty,
Art is object,
Art is subject,
Art is culture,
Art is contextualised,
Art is institutionalised,
Art is the result of play,
Art is the result of observation,
Art is a marginalised activity in our western society,
Art is symbollic,
Art is form,
Art is functionless.
Art is communication of emotion,
Art is communication of ideas,
Art is communication of concepts,
Art is communication of formal relations,
Art is communication of relationships.
Art is spiritual,
Art includes artifact,
Art is more than a process,
Art is living,
Art is alive,
Art is an obsession for artists,
Art survives.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Me on what art is not.
Art is not pure decoration.
Art is not politics.
Art is not made with ideological motives as its primary reason.
Art is not the artist.
Art is not objects which do not engage the viewer's attention.
Art is not objects which are meaningless (banal, aesthetically uninspiring, lacking in symbollic or informative content).
Art is not the sum of all life, or experience.
Art is not just a process.
Art is not mechanical.
Art is not self adsorbed.
Art is not meaningless or futile (in either production or consumption and appreciation)
Art is not the simple manipulation of a particular medium.
Art is not synonymous with the Artworld.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
