ARTGORITHM -- WHAT IS ART

The word "art" comes from the Latin ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to arrange", though in many dictionaries you will simply find it tautologically translated as "art". This is the only universal definition of art: that whatever it is was at some point arranged in some way. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymological roots.

It is frequently argued that art cannot be defined, partly because people's standards for judging what is or is not art are completely subjective. Much of the confusion about what can be or cannot be deemed art comes from an unconsidered use of the word to describe things or people as good or bad. It is this use of the word as an absolute measure of quality or value that gives the term its appearance of subjectivity.

In addition, most people's choices of what is art fall well in line with generally accepted standards deriving from education and other social factors. Most people did not consider the depiction of a Brillo Box or a store-bought urinal to be art until Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp placed them in a specific context, ie. the art gallery, which then inherently associated the objects with the values that usually define something as art. This, so called "institutional definition of art" was expressed for the first time by George Dickie in 1974.

Given the present association of art with status, it is somewhat ironic to note that previous to the 14th century in Europe, artisans were considered as being of a lower caste, since they laboured with their hands. It was only after Europe was re-exposed to Classical culture that artists gained their current association with high status, though arrangements of 'fine' and expensive goods have always been used by institutions of power as marks of their own status. This can still be seen in the commissioning or purchasing of art by big businesses and corporations as decoration for their offices.

STILL NO CLEAR ANSWER

Definitions of art and aesthetic arguments usually proceed from one of several possible perspectives. Art may be defined by the intention of the artist as in the writings of Dewey. Art may be seen as being in the response/emotion of the viewer as Tolstoy claims. In Danto's view, it can be defined as a character of the item itself or as a function of an object's context. For Plato, art is imitation. Obviously, there is validity in each of these perspectives and any useful definition of art must, at minimum, address all these categories.

There is wide disagreement over what constitutes art, and there is no single definition that is widely agreed upon. A common view is that art requires a creative and unique perception of both the artist and audience. For example, a common contemporary criticism of some modern painting might be, "my five-year old could have painted that" - implying that the work is somehow less worthy of the title art, either because the viewer fails to find meaning in the work, or because the work does not appear to have required any skill to produce.

Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. It can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language so as to convey meaning, with immediacy and or depth. Making this judgment requires a basis for criticism: a way to determine whether the impact of the object on the senses meets the criteria to be considered art, whether it is perceived to be ugly or beautiful. Perception is always colored by experience, so a reaction to art as 'ugly' or 'beautiful' is necessarily subjective.

Consider photography. Are photographs of un-posed 'real life' to be considered art? The common answer is overwhelmingly yes, even though many of these photographs simply seek to reproduce by machine what people can see with their own eyes. However, the reproduction is not neutral — a selection is being made by the artist. This is also one of the goals of found art: to recontextualize the art of everyday objects.

WHAT IT TAKES

Requires creative perception both by the artist and by the audience
It is elusive

Communicates on many levels and is open to many interpretations

Connotes a sense of ability

Interplay between the conscious and unconscious part of our being,
between what is real and what is an illusion

Any human creation which contains an idea other than its utilitarian purpose.

THEY SAID ABOUT IT

All art is useless.
Oscar Wilde

Art means to dare - and to have been right.
Ned Rorem

Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.
Gilbert Chesterston

Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes things visible.
Paul Klee

Art is the elimination of the unnecessery.
Picasso

Art is made to disturb. Science reassures.
Georges Braque