What is art?

[KukriKhan]

First, full disclosure: I am an art cretin.

For me, art = story.

That is: an abstraction or extraction of the essential elements of some human experience, "real" or imagined; then rendered by sound, sight, touch, taste (one or more of those) by one person - a transmitter - to generate a mental image to the receiver, that is hopefully similar to the transmitter's originally intended image - which seldom succeeds perfectly.

If it (the artifact) tells me a story, I feel like I "get" it. If it doesn't, then communication failed (maybe on my part, maybe on the sender's), though it may still be "art".

I "get"



It speaks to me across 17 thousand years of humanity, though it's crude and childlike. The story 'Grogg', the artist, intended, and the story I think I understand may be different, but the mere fact that his (her?) wall-scratchings inspire an image (and story) in my brain makes his/her effort - not required for his/her individual survival - "art".

And AdrianII's specimen

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I would, at first, dismiss as banal. A depiction of an ordinary, everyday scene. Until I realize that it's not a snapshot, a photograph taken quickly, telling me that a beer-bellied guy shaves while his wife showers - the only question being: Does he nonchalantly shave while she is on the toilet also, and does she return the favor - brushing her teeth while he defecates? Are they that "used" to each others' company?

Then it hits: it's a painting. Somebody took time to display the details shown; nothing is "incidental", accidental, unintended.

The tiled room, built by the man or woman? Probably not. Apparent running water? Likely not installed by the 2 humans seen. So: presumeably, they are beficiaries of modern, industrial society. The guy, shaving away his final primordial tie to barbarism (beard) pauses, hand flat, as if something has occured to him. The woman, showerhead in-hand, eyes downcast (busy) rather than naturally aimed at the guy's butt, ignores his question/observation while fumbling with her nose/mouth/eye apparatus.

Nakedness in industrial society not equalling real intimacy, I think.

Art.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

hmm coming back to reread this it's a very interesting thread. I looked at the first painting as just a scene but now I see what you guys are talking about.

[naut]

Just some general trivia, Lascaux has large portions of odd patterns painted over and among the animal images. This is believed to be due to the light/sensory deprivation the people painting on the cave walls would have experienced while in the caves for extended periods of time. That is, when you have sensory deprivation your mind plays tricks on you and you see odd coloured patterns, like star-bursts, black and white grids, etc, it's pretty fun to do.