The Definition of Art
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- Опубліковано 22 чер 2024
- What is art? How do we define art? In this episode, we explore some of the many ways that artists and writers and thinkers have defined and understood this thing we call art. Thanks to LEGO® ART for supporting PBS. For more information go to lego.build/ArtAssignment.
#art #arthistory #artists
Thanks to our Grandmasters of the Arts Divide By Zero Collection and David Golden, and to all of our patrons, especially Anthony Chivetta, Rich Clarey, Iain Eudailey, Tom Forwood, Patrick Hanna, Andrew Huynh, Eve Leonard, Audrey Mak Tung, David Moore, Jane Quale, Gabriel Civita Ramirez, Andrew Sheeler, Boris Silantiev, Josh Thomas, Constance Urist, and Roberta Zaphiriou. We are more grateful for you than you'll ever know!
Here is a full list of the uncaptioned artworks that appear under quotes in this video: docs.google.com/document/d/1K...
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"Art is" is one of my favourite definitions. As long as we exist, so will it. The bond is unrelenting and inevitable.
I’ve always had questions and conflicting thoughts about what I thought the definition of art was, and I’m so happy that this video was put up 😭 This definition I couldn’t agree more. Do you know who said this?
Many things also are. Does that mean they’re art?
@@Flackon yes
@@R0TTR0TT When a building, a crocodile and a yeast infection can be said that are all art, none is. Useless definition.
@@Flackon 😢😮
“art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” - cesar a. cruz
Agreed and my art fits in 100%
@@JOSEPHCHARLESCOLIN2024 I want my art to be able to fit this definition, hopefully im successful
@@akimjocelyn4387 never give up
Hackneyed.
Nice quote
“ To define is to limit.”
- Oscar Wilde
i agree said the fox. because blue is the taste of an orange's box. next tuesday i think. >!?!^%$##. that is my definition. because you cant have definitions. because oscar wilde.
That's why I don't like adding an explanation to an finished piece. It has to live on its own visual merits.
But human nature needs limits and definitions otherwise we just go crazy and chaotic. It's physically scary and uncomfortable for our brain to be in chaos, so it tries to define the world around anyway consciously or unconsciously.
“ To define is to limit.” is a definition itself.
Limits are there for something.
i know bookshelf tours are a thing of the internet's past, but your shelf as a backdrop (not sure if it was an intentional choice or just a pandemic choice) makes me want to know more about your book collection
also i like what you said about being transported into the past when consuming art of another time and feeling the existence of other people as people. both far into the past (because i lose perspective) and recent past that is a different past for me as it is for other people (like, say, music from the 80s, before i was born, being meaningful to a family member). art is indeed the gap.
since art assignment is being produced less often now it could be a nice idea to do a book tour as it could be an unscripted comparatively easy (I think) video to make
I agreeeeee
That would be easy and fun to do. Will figure out a way to do this!
@@theartassignment :)
@@theartassignment Please show us that Obrist book, that one looks interesting, and from what I see online, it is quite rare. Akademie X is great and I count myself lucky to have a copy of it.
Seneca was a stoic philosopher and the definition of "nature" according with stoicism is quite different to what we understand by it. Nature is not a forest, plants or the ocean, for the stoics "nature" is “the way things work” and it involves everything we can and can't imagine or understand: the cosmos, the mind, the body, the emotions, tangible or intangible. In that sense, the definition given by Seneca is really appealing to me: "All art is but imitation of the way things work". It could be how things work for the artist while creating or the observer while interaction with the art work. It's a very open and dynamic definition in my opinion.
Your comment really nailed it!
The physical and chemical properties of the ocean or forest or biology of organisms are how they work no?
What is Art?
Baby, don't paint me, don't paint me
no more
What is Art Art rt t
Baby, don't paint me tme me e
don't paint me tme me e
no more ore re e
Wohu wohu who whoo whoo.. 😂
My favorite Peanuts comic strip is a one panel strip of Lucy looking at Linus' just finished snowman and asking " But is it art? " .
There was also a Peanuts strip in which Linus drew a horse, but Lucy tore it up because she said it had no artistic value. Linus complains that he spent 45 minutes on the drawing, to which Lucy replies, “A true work of art takes at least an hour!”
@@BrianHutzellMusic Brian I have that one hanging right next to the other one on my refrigerator . John
It's my understanding that you guys will be taking a break soon. I want to thank you for everything you've provided us with over the years. Education is one of the greatest gifts we have in life, I'm very grateful to have found your channel and to have learned from your extensive research/production.
Why r they takin a break????
@@paris2993 they made a video about that recently-
ua-cam.com/video/T6IyOUWPg4I/v-deo.html
@@paris2993 you can watch her "Why I'm slowing down". She explains everything there.
I went to a religious school, growing up. Often, frustrations ruled my experiences in church. Boredom and disconnection. My first trip to an art museum filled me with wonder, awe, and empathy. The artist expressions taught me more about humanity than hundreds of Sunday morning congregations. Art is the process in which one human communicates with another.
100% and beautifully said :’)
Art is what makes us realize that at the core, we are all one and the same.
It's sad when churches drain religion of its inherent beauty. CS Peirce defined "esthetics" (his preferred spelling) as the "normative art of the admirable." Churches that don't use art (and liturgy is art) to move our hearts toward what we ought to admire (a.k.a. the beautiful) are wasting their time, IMO.
Art: what artists do; artist: someone who does art
But couldn't you say that art "does" the artist in equal measure?
I used to say I am a writer during my first years of writing. Now I just say I happen to write from time to time.
@@luisfdconti You could indeed - good observation!
If a person denies they are an artist, and does a painting,is the painting not art because it's creator refuses to be an artist?
@@MegaTang1234 LOL Very interesting point, I'd never thought of that! Personally, I realized the first time I read Ulysses by James Joyce that anyone's life can be a work of art, even the most mundane. So if Leopold Bloom, say, were to make a great painting but deny he was an artist, then that painting would be a part of the work of art that was his life, ergo, a work of art. Which could, of course, apply to anyone and their life. On the other hand, I suppose it all depends on how you look at it. I consider everyone's life to be a work of art, in a certain sense, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to win any prizes. :-)
"Art is medium of communicating ideas, meaning and emotions by interpretation."
This is the best definition I have...
But what if that art has no meaning or emotion, or isn't only to interpretation?
I really like the following quote from Cesar A. Cruz: "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
I have recently heard of a 6.5 h long music album series by Caretaker called "Everywhere at the end of time" that aims to illustrate what it is like to have dementia by having what sounds like old records at first slowly degrade into noise and I read this quote in association with that because from what I've heard, that album is really heartbreaking.
For art to take care of its responsibility suggested by the word "should", it has to be art first. So that quote doesn't help us in defining art but it suggests a perspective on its responsibility.
also please also check william basinski if you haven't already.
Solar Sands
the caretaker is fucking amazing
yes!!!!!!!!!!!! Caretaker!
"art is a shape of water."
as an growing artist I've notice how art is capable of shaping peoples mind, how free its is and how art is for everyone to understand with.
isn't that "cat"
It's funny that I can't think of anything to explain art even tho I'm an artist.
It’s probably beyond words or something
The artist explains through the art.
You call yourself an artist: a maker of art. It would track therefore that if you could explain your creations, you could explain art. Why do you create art? The answer you give is your definition of art.
@@alasdeangel3929 "Why do you create art? Whatever answer you give, is *ONE* of the numerous definition of art".
That what you said could literally be an explanation of art hahah
Loved this video. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about music, Luciano Berio's "Music is everything that one listens to with the intention of listening to music." It's not quite the definition I use, but it's close, and I think does a good job capturing the inherent subjectivity and experientialism of music, and art in general.
My issue with that definition is that it is circular. You can't use the word "music" inside its definition, because It would be like saying "music is music" which would be meaningless. In my opinion, music is not an object nor a property of an object, but a subjective interpretation of sound; which can explain why two people disagree in what is and what isn't music. Adam Neely used a similar definition in his 4'33" video
My favorite explanation of what makes art comes from Frank Zappa. (He was using this explanation to also explain what makes music.) He says it’s the frame, in the metaphoric sense. Example: If I drop a can of paint on the floor, then simply clean it up, that was not art; it was just a mess. But If I drop a can of paint on the floor and decide I really like the result, I can call it art. Maybe I don’t even save it, but at least for a moment, it was art. Or I can deliberately drop a can of paint on the floor, calling it art even before it’s created. The creator can add the frame, and so can a viewer. Did prehistoric people knowingly create art, or were they just doing something that pleased them? In this case, we have added the frame and now call it art. Or if someone sees the result of my dropped can of paint, even if I just planned to clean it up, the viewer may like it and call it art, even if that was not my intent.
So I'm half-kenyan, and I love this channel purely due to how it's been able to let me enter the world of art even though I didn't get a chance to study it in ernst throughout my schooling from pre-k to B/A in Political Science.
I have to say, the second I heard Wangechi Mutu - I knew she had to be Kenyan. I'm so proud to be at least partially Kenyan and I love seeing people from my culture get seen/noticed/quoted. I cannot wait to delve into Wangechi's artwork.
I know you're rolling back in terms of production Sarah Green, but I love this channel for so many reasons. Even if I only see a new video every once in awhile I understand, and I appreciate all that you & this channel have done so far for me and likely for many others too 😊😊😊
I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of people saying "thank you" for this series. It has been a wonderful experience; the highlight of each day that you have posted a video. Good luck in your future endeavors. I only hope that you will see fit to share some of them with us, your grateful fans.
"Art is anything someone perceives as art"
This is kind of a weird definition but it implies that here's at least 1 human who interacts with it it somehow which makes this definition include artworks that aren't made but looked at like something in nature or art that is made but never shown to anyone or that even left the artists mind at all. I think without humans art wouldn't exist though it's debatable if that is a correct assertion to make
And that means just one human across all space-time. Even after we are gone, the art remains
@@MrDietsam it still kind of begs the question, but maybe it just isn't an important one
I think it is fair to say that art is subjective & therefore to exist it requires an observer
A good definition doesn’t use the word being defined in definition
@@user-wl1uz5sb9f The observer and the producer don't have to be different.
This channel makes people consider or even accept every type of art and artist. That’s the most beautiful thing about it imo.
I love the idea that art is not always emotional expression. I think some people, myself included, can be bogged down by the idea that there’s no inspiration without raging emotions hitting you in the face. And so, we falsely believe that our desire to create is unworthy of being experienced. I love the idea that art can be thoughts and that it doesn’t have to be beautiful. Thank you so much for these definitions. 💖
The philosopher Jacques Maritain suggests that a work of art is an expression of an experience that can encompass emotion, but doesn't need to: connatural experience - when the artist/poet is "grasped," so to speak, by something out in the world that resonates with something interior to the artist. Lots of my poet friends talk about this (without knowing Maritain), that moment they know when a poem is coming. I've heard someone describe it as their "spidey sense." lol
I like to think about art in a way that the artist is giving me a building block, a new insight, with which i build my world. The more building blocks I get, the more elaborate and closer to truth my world is.
Thank you, Art Assignment!
Funny enough, I spent hours scouring the internet today (the same day the video is posted) for resources to engage students with this question. Your channel has been an incredibly valuable resource in designing a new course in arts appreciation. Thank you for asking good questions and inciting meaningful dialogue! As a teacher, I appreciate all of your work.
"art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images to achieve changes in consciuosness" -Alan Moore
Wow! What a video! I always wanted to make a video on the definition of art, but it's such a difficult and intimidating task.
We'll miss you so much!
There is a saying in Bali : “We have no art, not even a word in our language to define art or artist. We just do everything as beautifully as possible.”
Thanks Shara, I have grown to appreciate all art. My mom was an artist, my sisters are artist I dabble it art (keeps me from hurting people) your channel inspires me. I see musicians, artists, trying to include all and make the world a better place. Art is so important. Makes people think.
Art is whatever the observer likes it to be. I thought about this sentence over and over again, during discussions about arts definition, or during my own creating of what I believe is art, and after reading books about this very subject. I loved this video! I think she does an amazing job of offering her viewers such a wide diverse description of what art really can be. Super well done. Cheers!
As a professional Historic Furniture and Decorative Objects Conservator I have lent my hand to a mind boggling range of Arts in a mind boggling range of destruction. Whether someone brings you the equivalent of kindling and explains it was once an etagere created by a now dearly departed or a micro mosaic table shattered by the drop of a Baccarat crystal chandelier of which both must be put back into not only a recognizable form but one that defies the naked eye of a casual observer ever seeing the former devastation.
Perhaps it is marquetry, tortoise shell, alabaster, crystal, metal or a coating. Whatever 'it' is it must be honored in the form it was intended to be seen and or felt. It's 'owner' may be a high end collector, museum or a poor farmer but each is regarded the same for it is the object itself that I work for. It may be ancient, contemporary or anywhere in between. It may be a famous work or as obscure as a church mouse.
As such it requires; chemistry, hand & eye skill, materials knowledge, critical thinking, patience and the ability to go to a Zen place in the mind to encounter the soul of the artist from whence it came and become one with that artists' carving stroke, as each has their own, and breathe the same breath, feel the same depth and let it flow.
For so long I found it odd that with my superior skill set that I should be spending my life working behind the curtain so to speak on so many different forms of art . . .of which none were my own. Yet eventually I realized I was exactly where I belonged. That there was no greater place, challenge, honor or reward for me than these objects which I passed into the future from the past so that so many could embrace whatever joy they might wrought from them.
Although despite the unavoidable slight feeling of project schizophrenia while working on many different objects concurrently there was always a sense of peace as I moved from one to another and a knowing that this is the one I belonged on at that given moment.
I haven't always personally particularly liked an artifact, as some have certainly not been my cup of tea going in or coming out of a project but, indeed, I always finished with an appreciation of and for the original artists intent and mind. Some though, I must admit, I miss to this very day. And I live with the hope that the owners of those few artifacts honor the promise I wrested from their mouths that they would convey those pieces to me in their will, lol. While they may not have been my original creation, after the labor of love I brought them to the point where they could stand on their own and much like an adoptive mother feels they will always be my baby's.
Nevertheless, for me art has always been what I did for a living and as such I submit this definition simply:
Art Works.
I *love* this video. Some truly excellent, beautiful, inspiring quotes about art. I love that you help us to articulate how "art" is not solely the kind of modernist or postmodernist art that has a message, a social critique, or that is meant to be thought-provoking in some other way. Art is also transportive, inspiring, relaxing, or quite simply the visual/aesthetic building blocks of our entire lived experience. Thank you.
What a fantastic video and the biggest surprise was the fact that you pronounced the names of all the mentioned artists correctly. This is rather rare these days. Well done.
Speaking from my perspective as primarily a writer (it's the art I make most often and I feel I'm best at it) - this still really touches on SO MUCH. One of my own favorite comments to do with 'what is art' comes from Scott McCloud in his book "Understanding Comics," in which he more or less explains that any action taken that does NOT directly contribute to survival, is art. (It's done, naturally enough, with a short comic; I don't have the image to link it or show it, though.)
Since the start of this year I have gotten involved with fan-fic, and my experiences with the community have drastically changed how I work and how I feel ABOUT my work. Because I'm no longer shouting into the void by having stories written that no one sees; because I have people talking to me, asking me about their own work and mine as well, we're all learning from each other and exchanging ideas in a vast cross-pollination that is, truly, some of the most satisfying interaction with other minds I have ever known.
So much of what you say here just resonates really strongly with me. You've taught us all so much, and this video is no different, because you show us once more that it's very complicated, this art thing. We have to work at understanding, work at connecting with the art itself - and in a way that helps us work at connecting with other people. Another author that I greatly admire - Spider Robinson - built an entire novel around the idea that humans absolutely need to connect to each other, and that we are all trapped inside ourselves: that the goal (in the case of many of his characters in that book, in the form of dance) is to escape the bones and the flesh and touch our minds, our souls. That it's not possible to hate someone when you can understand them: and art gives us that opportunity to understand.
Wonderful to hear of your evolution and no longer ‘speaking into void’. Good luck with your work.
I think part of the difficulty of defining art comes from the arbitrary nature of definitions themselves. Even for something as simple as "soup", given any definition, it's easy to find examples that fall outside that definition but are still arguable soup (i.e., Does it have to be hot to be soup? Does it have to be savory? Is there a distinction between a soup and a stew? Is coffee a soup?)
My theory is that people tend to first learn about art by having other people show them "things considered art". Depending on what they are exposed to, a person will develop a unique intuitive sense for what art is. When you then try to extract this intuition from someone, they must translate their abstract feeling into something they can communicate via words, which only adds to the complexity. This is how we end up with popular definitions which are either clearly too narrow, or so broad that they could pretty much describe anything in existence.
I like this!
I love your soup example, because I've seen a post saying that, because the ocean has water, salt, vegetables, and meat, it is technically a soup. 😂
To me, art has a different meaning when I see it (or hear it) than it does when I make it. When I'm the spectator, to me the art is a time machine, a vehicle that transports me to a different place and time. It lets me visit strange new worlds without jet lag. It lets me revisit history in a way no history book can. It captures the soul of space and time.
When I make something, it takes all my attention away from the dull reality of daily life. It's as much about escapism as the Saturday morning cartoons were when I was a kid. It cannot transport me in the same way as seeing other's art can as it it intrinsically linked to my own life. But it gives my brain a break.
"Art is Fart, minus the f."
--- Jimmy Bunch
I think they forgot to include this definition...
4 things that i learned about this video is that everyone sees and enjoys the art differently. art can expression and a form of relief and freedom. idea can be works of art too and not all art is made physically, theyres many ways of making art, we ourselves choose what art is. art has different makings and art can be different things
Or, as Deidara said: "Art is an explosion!"
No. Art is a puppet. Eternal.
Lol I was literally just thinking of the iconic art duo
So intellectual.. watching this i feel like I haven't really used my brain in a long time
Intellectual!?!?!?! 🤭
Ohhhhh dear!
This is the sort of 'intellectual' nonsense that convinces a weak minded rich person to part with $120,000 for a banana duct taped to a wall.
This comment is an art👌 lmao
@@tomclarke1768 wow, you managed to get nothing from the video.
I agree with Picasso's concept of art. It is like a lie that allows us to understand the truth. Art is ideas, concepts, feelings, imagination, passion, and dislike. Art is the reflection of the social-historical and political conflicts. It is history, past and present. Art expresses the artist's worries and wishes. Art is anywhere, and Anyone who can be able to understand it could be an artist.
I actually wanted to ask if you were in a coma or something (since you haven't used your brain?) but I suspect I'd get an answer like;
"In our society, aren't we all?"
You gave us a lot to think about. My favorite description of art and artist is in Henry Miller's autobiographical essay; "To Paint is to Love Again" The relevant paragraph is too long to quote here, but, fortunately, UA-cam has him reading the entire piece. He was a lifelong painter, as well as a writer. This essay gives us the best of both. My inferior computer skills prevents me from being able to put up a link, but it's easy enough to find.
Before watching this video, I have a personal definition of art after thinking about it for a long time. For me, art is the exploration of communication. Different artists may try different mediums to convey similar meanings, and the same artists may express a variety of messages through the same medium. Some art pieces are monologues, intended just for the artists themselves, and some take real life when appreciated by others. Art isn't always clear cut, it isn't necessarily apparent what the original message is, but that isn't all that important; you can still get something meaningful to you out of it.
I'm no artist, art historian or philosopher of art. I'm a scientist and that might shape my line of thought. Now I'm ready to get my views challenged, I'm really interested to know what real artists think of the art they create. Thanks for making this video
"Some art pieces are monologues" Yes!!!!
I was thinking "we" as the interpreter are put into a therapist-type of role ... "what is this piece trying to communicate ..." If the artist wants to be vague, maybe the artist doesn't desire/care to be understood by others?
"Before defining art - or any concept - we must answer a far broader question: what is the meaning of Man's life on Earth? Maybe we are here to enhance ourselves spiritually. If our life tends to this spiritual enrichment, then art is a means to get there. Art should help man in this process."
Andrei Tarkovsky
This kinda reminds me of an episode of the anthropocene reviewed, I give art 5/5 stars ✨
I give a 5/5 Too & add a Bonus Star.
I love how humble and unpretentious this video is.
lol
I love Art Assignment!!! This is a very good example and an eye opening way to understand what art is. Thank you!!!
"Art is something useless, done with intensity"
Art is to create beauty, in something basic. It creates a sense of comfort, and build our mind to something healthier way of looking at the emptiness of building that one is going to liv in.
“Art is what you make, and I’m not making enough!”
Pati Hoskins (artist from Indianapolis)
I love what you said about holding all these ideas together. It's like we're harmonising our approaches. My key to this is promoting harmony across the typical dichotomy that I've always been taught about in art history classes: formal analysis vs contextual analysis; formalism vs psychoanalysis; and art as formed by creative acts vs art as defined by value. Agh, those pesky false dichotomies...
Ah, but we don't want to become institutionalized, like the institutional critique artists have made it into art history texts. There is always the risk of harmonizing the "differenting" expressions that we call art. I might recommend "promoting harmony across the typical [and atypical] dichotomy".
There's some really great descriptions in here, especially when you put them all together to sort of elaborate the idea that that is has no definition or that it is pure subjectivity.
On regards to the idea of art as communication or a way to connect with others, I have have always struggled with the idea that art only exists or is completed once it is viewed, this mostly has to with my personal disillusion with art as market, and to an extend, art as an institution. Because of this I've had to make a distinction between art (market and institution) where most of the interactions between artist and those who "appreciated" take place and art as act, bet it that of an individual or a group. Because of this, the definition that most resonates with me is that art is something to do. I especially like it because it, as many of the definitions here echo, art is not a thing. It is not necessarily a performance, a sculpture or a painting, or even a result of any kind, art can also be the process and even that which proceeds it.
But it does, indeed, have a definition, and it's objective.
My Thesis needed this as a reference, Thank You SO Much!!
Protip: download this video such that you don't have to do a lot of rewriting if something happens to it. That would most likely not be fun especially if you find out about it close to the deadline
This video deserves so so so much more love than it has received. It's a beautiful compilation of all the things art is. Ideas. A floaty thing that you know you can share if you're sincere enough. And that anyone who truly shares it, understands. Ephemeral but real.
An art's tale and history made from definitions, beautiful!
One of my favorite definitions of art comes from one of my professors, "Art is a verb."
“Art is the intention of the subconscious, guised as the actions of the conscious. “ -my thoughts
My music teacher used to read us this essay called ‘why we do what we do.’ She read it every year to incoming freshmen, and then again when we were about to graduate. It was about music and the musician and what was important about creation and song. I’m an adult now but this quote has never left me.
“Art exists to move the invisible unmovable things inside us.”
There are three ideas that comes to mind:
The first, from Jens Ohlin and Hannes Meidal's reimagining of Faust (paraphrasing): "but isn't it the artist's very cause, to exist in the crosshairs of pain"
The second, inspired by a line in the book Wilful Disregard by Lena Anderson, when the main character is asked why she writes: "To make others see what I have seen", and Mary Oliver's Upstream: "Attention is the beginning of devotion". Perhaps exceptional art necessitates the artist having seen something exceptional, or simply having an exceptional way to see the world.
I often find that art that sticks with me is the art that traces the contours of that which cannot be expressed with words.
For me: "I like to see are everywhere. But art IS what I want to be art, and your art may not be mine, and visa versa."
Well, ironically, it's not very imaginative, or poetic, especially compared to the ones in this video, but my personal definition of art has always been that it is the language of abstraction. As a language it can be very articulate, and precise, or it can be vague and nonsensical. It can convey meaning not intented by the speaker, or conceal that speaker's intentions behind unrelated text. It really runs the gamut of human communication, as languages are wont to do. The abstraction is necessary to personalize the experience for people through their individual interpretations of it.
Art has always been about catharsis and storytelling for me. What pushed me to become an artist was when I found I could connect to and move complete strangers around the world through my work.
Could we have a video on art history books?
I'm a law student and it's only through watching your videos for all these students I found solace and discomfort in art, all at once. I love all your videos. They're both informative and give us space to develop our stance.
I'd love to read more upon art and art history if you've any suggestions. Thank you :)
"To live near art is enough."
Arts wife
Sometimes, a persons life feels like a work of art to me, and they don’t know that- it’s up to me to realize and appreciate what they are and do as art,
What I think is so great about art is that it is somehow able to transcend the limits of ordinary communication. I often feel that there are essential barriers between my experiences and those of others that I can't cross by talking. Sometimes no matter what I say it seems I can't express completely or fully what I feel. Having someone look at art that comes close to what I want to express is, at least to me, a way of connecting to others when I couldn't otherwise. It reminds me of those people who say making art is only useful when you can't convey something otherwise, although maybe that seems a bit extreme to me.
Thank you for making this video!!! This is such a great take on what art is. I love it!
To define art, would be like, trying to put walls around the infinite.
The reason we feel uncomfortable trying to define art, is that we are afraid that any definition, will restrain creativity.
Art, by its very nature, defies definition, and invites description.
Therefor only the broadest definition makes sense....."art is what you say it is"
100% My Thinking
Those limits exist so scammers like contemporary hampartists don't get to trick everyone with a shitty 9 million canvas.
@@Kasparoscar well my canvas take 4.5 years to get to 9 million...each
@@JOSEPHCHARLESCOLIN2024 Who asked you?
I like so many of these definitions!! I've heard the experience of feeling something beyond yourself and your existence, a feeling of being connected to something greater or sublime via art as an event. I I don't think anyone can feel that for every kind of art they encounter, but that seems like one definition that wasn't mentioned.
This series is beyond awesome! Thank you.
ART IS ANYTHING THAT RAISES AND SUSTAINS A CONSCIOUS LEVEL AND/OR INTO A DIALOGUE, CONSISTENTLY. This contemporary definition is one of several attributed to among others, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Everything so well portrayed in this "Definition" piece is great, and in line with, or falls under the above SAIC statement. I love this topic and the way in which you covered the topic in your video! All of the examples you sited were awesome. Thank you for this creative production on art!
“Art is the function of being, renamed for eternity”
“If you say it’s art, it’s art.” - Robert Irwin
Scott Jones YES some people say “I OnLy LiStEn To ReAl ArT” but everything is art even if it’s not good
@@kevinnguyen552 This was my question. Is there even such a thing as bad art? Isn't all art art?
Phong Nguyen as soon as someone - anyone, no matter their background or qualification - points to any phenomenon and calls it “art” they have established the context by which the object will be thought of. To say something isn’t art is to have regarded it artfully. And by that action, made it into art. “Good” and “bad” is a different consideration and different conversation
irishlluv I don’t think of it so much a matter of “bad” or “good”. I think of any piece or body of art like a vein of mineral in a mine. Some art i find to be rich and layered. I can keep going back to it and it keeps giving - more information, more inspiration, more challenges. Some art is poor as in thin and flat, easily having whatever it has to offer exhausted: I see it once and I’ve grasped all it has to offer. But those conditions can shift over time as I change.
Nah, it doesn't depend on that.
Art is anything that surrounds us. Whether you see it or not, whether it is abstract or concrete, whether it is boringly ordinary or unusual, it is there. It is an idea or imagination, that can or cannot be created nor destroyed. It is a creation that is born out of nothingness. It can be indefinite or finite, long or short.
An Aesthetic that belongs to itself.
there are some wonderful quotes in this video, this is how i sumarize it all : ''Art is the perceiving of something and forming an opinion of it. the creator is beautifully expressing themselves, so that the viewer can experience ART.''
This is exactly the video I needed tonight, thank you!
The only thing I can declare about “art” is that it’s an abstract noun.
I think the qualities that define a WORK of art can only be defined personally. Something that is a work of art to one person does not have to be a work of art to anyone else. Art is something that exists for all of us but is experienced differently, and in different places.
We should accept that there is no collective definition.
Or as McLuhan says, art is whatever you can get away with.
yes, I agree
Oooor you can actually study the qualities that define art, and stop blabbering shit.
@@Kasparoscar was up mate? How u doin
That's the same for the word "aesthetics"
Why has this channel been sitting for a whole year? It’s great
Big fan of lego initiatives. Inspiring next generations' creativity. Art for me, is the essence of communication.
This makes me realize that the definitions of “music” among musicians versus the definitions of “art” among other types of artists sort of differs. In all of the definitions of music that I’ve come across, it’s always been more human-centric, such as John Cage’s quote about music being “a means to put the mind at ease so that it may come under divine influences” (I’m paraphrasing). Other art seems to be so much more concerned with the grander notions of reality and nature, whereas music is about how WE perceive that nature.
How cool! Thanks for lending your perspective, I enjoyed reading this.
"Art is a creative impulse: a motive, a surge; not pulsation."
Hey im an Actor from Macedonia and im so happy that now watching your video i came up with my own definition of art ...
''Art is every expression of personal sailing through the unknown"
Which means if you're a good sailor in the unknown, you're probably a good artist too, but there is always a risk of sinking, so watch out :D
"I have this very what you call today 'square' idea that art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness."
- Anni Albers, interview in the Archives of American, 1968
This is the description or definition of art that strikes me the most. It's indeed that art has the power to tap into the depths of human emotion. Art is like a happy break from everyday life. It's a short escape into a world where emotions are bright and life seems more special and meaningful.
'The common factor in art is this: an object is designated by certain people as a candidate for appreciation in some way.' John Armstrong
I love this show and am so sad Sarah is moving on. My definition of art is an act/ creation that instigates a big idea or feeling in the audience/creator.
As a former student of The Leeds Beckett school of art on my way to the art studios I'd walk past a solitary oak tree outside the Henry Moore institute more or less every day for 4 years it was only when I was doing my Masters dissertation after developing a student practice around socially engaged art and the ideology of Beuys. That when rummaging through the negatives held in the Henry Moore archive I found out that that very same tree was planted by Joseph Beuys nearly 50 years prior as part of the 7000 oaks project. That piece has just about influenced everything I've done since. That tree has also become more or less a place of pilgrimage for me after the fact.
To define art I suppose I view it like the prophecies/ room of requiremenr from Harry Potter-
'Every work of art is a gift, something that could be anything, the only thing each has in common is that no matter what, it will always seek out and reveal itself to those that need to see it'
I am a theatre artist and I love that you included quotes from practitioners like Twyla Tharp and Brecht
I want to see art as something that represents our consciousness we allow to share. But then again, I like your description of how art can be connected to a way of thinking, or process.
I'm sorry this channel's gonna slow down for a bit. I had fun.
Thanks Bloom and Dewey!
"Art is anything that you can get away with!"
Art is everything that develope one's mind to the future.
Thanks for this video. I plan on having my students watch and discuss the subjects you brought up. Sometimes kid's definitions of art are really interesting.
Art is anything designed to elicit an emotional response.
The color of a sports car is art. The design of a ceiling fan so it looks buyable is art. Clothing choices are art. Your tone of voice while giving a presentation is art. And all that other stuff is art too.
These were often spiritual definitions, but to me the one with the most utility is the mechanical one.
2:16 this is actually art as well. At least the colours. irl it doesn't look like this.
Art:(ψ) an object or event or experience created by an entity that has knowledge of its creation in relation to the creation of such a thing with a metaphysical value.
Experience: (Φ) something that has occurred to an entity.
Aesthetic experience: (β) an experience through sensory system and the processing of such experience.
Judgment: (θ) an activity of taste placed upon the aesthetic experience.
Agreement: (γ) a state within judgment opposite of disagreement.
Disagreement: (μ) a state within judgment opposite of agreement.
Observing art in relation to agreement:
(θψ ⇒ Φ∧β ≡ θ(μ)) ⇒ ⊤
Observing art in relation to disagreement:
(θψ ⇒ Φ∧β ≡ θ(γ)) ⇒ ⊤
Observing a experience:
Φ ⊢ (Φ ⇔ β) ⊕ (θ(γ ⊕ μ))
The above formulae are simplistic constructions on the subject matter. For a more complex adaptation the formulae for the observations will change. Firstly we need to construct a definition of art that is more universal and is able to define anything as art.
If ψ is art and can hold any property
Δ: any property imaginable.
Then:
∀ψ ∈ Δ(ψ)
The observation states that art (ψ) holding Δ a property is true for any possible property Δ.
If a property (Δ) of something (x) will exert an experience (Φ).
∀Φ ∈ Δ(x) ≡ ∃Φ ∈¬ Δ(x)
In any case these cannot be totally true, depending on one’s view or understanding of things. If one assume the above propositions as true then one can follow it up with.
∀ψ ∈ Δ(ψ) ∨ (Φ ⊢ (Φ ⇔ β) ⊕ (θ(γ ⊕ μ)) ⇔ ∀Φ ∈ Δ(x) ≡ ∃Φ ∈¬ Δ(x))
Within this case, art having any property will be true if and only if the person observing art (ψ), for the experience to hold to be true, it requires the observer to have satisfied all of the laid out propositions. The existence of the experience validates the existence of the artwork since the property of a thing will produce some form of experience. The relation between the experience and the property of the object or surrounding experience one is having, is the same as the property of any object considered to be art. If one of these observations is false then the other will be false as well, though a false and true property of the observed experience cannot confirm the existence of such an experience.
Object (α) and its property
∀ α(x) ≡ ∃ ¬ α (x)
The two distinctive arguments would be:
Art
∀ψ ∈ Δ(ψ) ∨ (Φ ⊢ (Φ ⇔ β) ⊕ (θ(γ ⊕ μ)) ⇔ ∀Φ ∈ Δ(x) ≡ ∃Φ ∈¬ Δ(x))
Object
∀ α(x) ≡ ∃ ¬ α (x) ∨ (Φ ⊢ (Φ ⇔ β) ⊕ (θ(γ ⊕ μ)) ⇔ ∀Φ ∈ Δ(x) ≡ ∃Φ ∈¬ Δ(x))
In this case (Φ ⊢ (Φ ⇔ β) ⊕ (θ(γ ⊕ μ)) ⇔ ∀Φ ∈ Δ(x) ≡ ∃Φ ∈¬ Δ(x)) is an observation on the experience and judgment made based on such an experience in relation to a property observed.
The difference lays within the semiotic understanding of things in relation to experience and observation. An aesthetic experience and aesthetic as a whole focus on the attainment and understanding of our sensory process. In the case above, the observation provides that an experience no matter what such experience or observation is, will divulge through a specific construction.
I think art is in the making, and that this making resides in the result perennialy, that's why we can feel it. And, too, I think art is impossible to catch and lock up into any definition.
Thank you so much, guys! You make me feel accompanied in this doubtful world.
Art -away from ideology- is everything you don't have to do, but you want to do because there's a mysterious urge in you to communicate in that way, and from there, the viewer does their job in seeing and feeling reality as you express it and suggest its aspects yourself (and yes, surely it's what you can get away with, if you could make one person more conscious of themselves by examining the world from where you stand, then that's great..)
Thank you for taking the effort of creating this lovely video. Information here is always ever so romanticised. One cannot feel like they could be learning in a more subtle way.
I think art is food for the soul
Brilliantly and masterfully put together. I've watched this video three times now and will definitely revisit agian and agian.
You are amazing! My day began with this video and I feel so good.
It only makes sense that Andy Warhol got away with stealing the quote "Art is what you can get away with".
Somehow I feel Sarah was outvoted and told to define art.
So she found every definition she could 🤣😂
As a producer and the audience of art, each definition touches on some nebulous form of art itself.
Most quotes about "what art is" are really mission statements about what that particular person would like to create or see created.
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
"Art completes what nature cannot bring to a finish."
"An essential element of any art is risk."
While fun and thought inspiring, I think they only communicate what art can be, and not what art actually is.
So, here's what I think: Art is the intersection of two goals.
1) Art is communication abstracted from words.
2) Art is an exploration of its material.
I think all art exists on a spectrum between these two functions, Expression and Curiosity. The depth to which these are implemented, as well as the balance of each, can be entirely subjective.
In that way, I also think art is an adjective, at least in spirit, used to describe the things we derive these concepts from.
But what do I know? I'm just some no name wannabe artist watching educational videos on the internet. ;)
The Polish author Gombrowicz speaks through his first person narrator in 'Ferdydurke' and tells us that, importantly, artists shouldn't call themselves artists because every person in an artist through the ways in which they choose to live. I love this, I think it's so honest and beautiful.
Of course, there's still a necessity for "artists" to differentiate themselves (they dedicate their working hours to Art), but truthfully we are all artists in how we choose to act and talk.
I personally like broad definitions of Art and landed on "a purposeful experience"
For me, that covers everything.
"A"
Art is definitely a noun, but not a proper noun.
"Purposeful"
Art is not accidental or naturally occurring. Someone has to set out to do something on purpose, even if the end result is different from what they planned. You can't create art by accident. You can however, leverage or build atop an accident or nature to create or better experience art, but those things alone are not art.
"Experience"
This covers the experience of thinking, planning, creating, observing and contemplating.
Art is everything, all art is political, and all art is valid.
If anything is art, than nothing is. And yet, to define art is to kill it. It is the tension between these two that make the conversation about art interesting.
I just shit my pants... art?
Now, you should differ what's art from what's not.