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What is art to you?
Posted: Apr 04, 2008 in Things to do, Culture
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I occassionally paint murals for other people. My husband did not particularly like my last mural, which led to a discussion (read: argument) about what art really is. His idea of art is those gaudy wolf or eagle paintings. He likes them because they can look so close to the real thing. You know the ones I mean? Those paintings just don't do it for me. Like my friend said, "If you could put it on a t-shirt and write 'Colorado' under it, it can't be good." But everyone's perception of art is different, and I have to appreciate that. What is your idea of good art? What kind of art do you just not like, or not fully appreciate?
I prefer abstracts but I think there's a place for wildlife paintings. Eagle Creek Reservoir had an art show last year showcasing local artist wildlife paintings and there were some really nice ones. I think of those more as decorative art (especially for a den) than the type of art you'd hang in a gallery or put on display in your living room.
Art always comes down to personal preference, however. I'd never want to become an art snob that looked down on one genre over another.
If you have to take an art class to learn to appreciate a piece of artwork, is it really art? Is it art to those who just see a bunch of scribbles or a badly drawn human-like figure? Art is in the eye of the beholder and as a culture, what we consider to be art continues to change over the years.
At one point 50 years ago, Congress was meeting to try to ban comic books because they felt they were smutty trash with no redeeming values that were corrupting the youth of America. Today, video games are under attack in Congress much the same way (with Hillary Clinton, surprisingly, leading the charge). Comic books or graphic novels are considered an art form today and there are hundreds of universities around the country that now offer comic-related curriculum. I think in another decade or two, video games will be acknowledged as an art form as well.
It took film quite a while to become accepted as an art form.
Thanks for the great comments rictor. That's the type of discussion I was kind of hoping for. I never really thought of video games as an art form, but once you said it, I think you're probably right.
If something is created where the intention is to evoke an emotion from someone, then that pretty much sums up art.
It's not very often that someone will create "art" and keep it to themselves....it's all about impact.
Im not much on abstract stuff, i just dont see it? Its like the movie my kid could paint that? Seriously, if its something that a 3 year old could create where is the value in that?
ahhhhhhhhh, Marley - "If you could put it on a t-shirt and write 'Colorado' under it, it can't be good." - That was just picture perfect. Too funny not to pass along
If it's beyond my ability to do, it's art. If it's beyond my ability to grasp some iota of beauty in it - I'm not so sure.