Art is the quality, production, or expression of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. Any brief definition of art would oversimplify the matter, but we can say that all the definitions offered over the centuries include some notion of human agency, whether through manual skills (as in the art of sailing or painting or photography), intellectual manipulation (as in the art of politics), or public or personal expression (as in the art of conversation). Human beings produce the word art. Art is a visual culture. Having said that, we are still left with a class of objects, ideas and activities that are to be held separate or special in some way. Even those things, which become art even though they are not altered in any material way, are accorded some special status in a describable way. Because of this complexity, people have developed a variety of ways to characterize the art impulse.
So what is art for? It's the product of conscious intention, a self rewarding activity, a tendency to unite dissimilar things, a concern with change and variety, the imposition of order on disorder, the creation of illusions, an exhibition of skill, an indulgence in fantasy, it's illustration, a personal adornment or embellishment, art is a giving of meaning to life, it's a generation of unselfconscious experience, and a training in the perception of reality. It's necessary for us to give physical form to things we feel, think and imagine. Art can express important values within all communities. Our arts, traditions, and languages are representative of who we are. Art can arouse our emotions, create imaginations, lead us to see and think in new ways, and can make strong statements. .
Art is the quality, production, or expression of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. Any brief definition of art would oversimplify the matter, but we can say that all the definitions offered over the centuries include some notion of human agency, whether through manual skills (as in the art of sailing or painting or photography), intellectual manipulation (as in the art of politics), or public or personal expression (as in the art of conversation).
