What is your definition of art?

[loc978]

I prefer this definition:

4. a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced. [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art?show=1&t=1296758254]

 

[Jonluw]

My definition: Bullshit.

Anything can be art, therefore nothing is.

 

[GiantRaven]

To me, something is art when a person imparts a personal meaning and importance into an aesthetic experience. That can be either the creator or the consumer and can be as simple as just liking the shape of something, be it natural or man-made. I think anything can be art. I think people get too hung up on the idea that art can only be 'good'.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

Art-

Anything that gives me that brain tingling sensation. You know the one.

 

[CatmanStu]

Art is when someone uses tangible skill to create an intentional product that elicits the requested emotional or intellectual response from an audience.

 

[Shadie777]

Something that you find inspiring, it doesn't have to be just images or sculptures, it can be anything you find ranging from books,video games,etc.

 

[TheUnchosenOne]

I go with a fairly basic definition of art: anything which is produced through artifice. The purpose of art is to provoke an intellectual or emotional response. So yes, pretty much anything man-made counts as art in my book. Whether it is successful or worthwhile is a completely separate question, and in my mind the far more interesting one. "Is this art?" is boring. "Is this work of art successful?" is fascinating.

 

[masher]

An expression of the mind.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Art is anything which has been produced purely for the intention of invoking emotion in others and or understanding in one's self.

 

[cleric of the order]

my definition of art is that it is anything that stimulates one emotionally.

 

[Jelly ^.^]

Art is something made by one who professes themselves to be an artist for art's sake alone.

 

[xdom125x]

?noun
1.
the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

I like that definition.

That seems like a well thought out definition. I must agree with it.

 

[rainman2203]

Pretty much what others have been saying- if it evokes emotion or displays an idea then you could consider it art. Music, literature, paintings, dance- anything really. Not all art is good, but nothing in life is really good all the time. For every Donnie Darko or Inception, there are several Michael Bay movies.

Oh side note: I'm an arts management major and most every semester we discuss the Piss Christ and Robert Maplethorpe cases. For those of you not familiar, both of these questionably offensive projects were funded by NEA (aka U.S. tax money) and of course enraged conservative senators. Just goes to show you how different people receive different stimuli (and also what idiots we elect to lead us).

 

[DarkSoldier84]

Art is something somebody creates to intentionally evoke an emotional response in the audience.

I'm following (among others) The Dark Id's Let's Play of Nier on Something Awful. I know from experience that he's very snarky about bad design and story decisions. I'm not directly playing Nier but I know I should after watching just the first few hours of gameplay. The game is so good at evoking the paternal instinct: you can tell from Nier's dialogue and actions that he loves his daughter and everything he does is for her benefit. Yonah wants her father to be happy, which is why she does some of the things that initially look really stupid. Yonah's diary entries can make you feel so sad that she doesn't have her father around as often as she should.

I can't name a recent Final Fantasy title that got me to care so much about the protagonist. Granted, the most recent FF I played was FFX-2 and I understand the "protagonist" of FFXII is constantly shoved aside for the real main character and FFXIII is rife with blandness.

 

[Nova Helix]

An expression of culture or something man made that is appealing to the eye.

Dada is exempt from that and is not art. Seriously that stuff is pathetic.

 

[Harlemura]

I think it's something that looks good. Yes, my mind is so closed I struggle to find anything that's not a painting or sculpture or something like that art.
At the very least, it stops you thinking that each and every thing that's ever made is art.

 

[DanielDeFig]

I find any creative work to be art.

Considering the minimum amount of creative work necessary to make even the "cash-grabbiest" game, all games are art. Included as well are movies, books, comics, paintings, drawings, sculptures, woodwork, etc. Heck, even TV shows are art, SOMEONE has to do the editing.

On a recent thread someone brought up a dictionary definition, that we both seem to agree upon words how we view art very effectively:

Merriam-Webster [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art?show=1&t=1296759465]

EDIT:

To further reiterate my point (and because i forgot to put it in earlier): Even the average person's doodle on a napkin is art.
Its a creative work, and more importantly, done for either aesthetic or entertainment purposes (sometime you just doodle to keep your mind occupied, not to make something pretty)

 

[Mittens The Kitten]

Are video games art seems to be a big question here, I want to know what definition of art people are using when they say this or that is art. I looked at the definition at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/art and according to some of them anything that is man-made or ARTificial is art. The best way of deciding if something is art for me is anything that only services the propose of being pretty, which would remove games from the category as they are used to tell stories and teach morals.

I see art as anything that evokes strong emotions. By that definition, to me, games are more of an art than paintings ever will be, but that's just cuz I don't get paintings.

I'm going to give you an oppurtunity to refine your definition, as of now, killing someone's grandma falls under the category of doing art under your definition.

Nice hyperbole. Emotion is the only link I can see between games, movies, books, paintings, dance(another art form I just don't get), and all the other stuff our society calls art. But fine, I'll play your game and refine my definition.
Anything created to convey emotion. Happy now, I made it a thing, not an act.
Edit, i already called it a thing, so the act of killing a grandmother wouldn't fit into my definition. Your premise is rejected.

If your definition only covers activities where a physical object is produced, then you're claiming that theatre, dance and preformance art are, in fact, not art.