Philosophical Questions: Art
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
4. Where is the line between art and not art?
That depends on the context.
Anthropological: Art is anything made for decoration rather than practicality.
Prestige: Fine art is stuff made mostly by people who are rich and male (e.g. oil paintings, sculptures). Folk art is stuff made mostly by people who are poor and female (e.g. quilts, art yarn).
Personal: If I can do it, then it's not really art. Things like painting a canvas one solid color as a "statement," that's an arteest showing off; it doesn't take the kind of skill as a realistic landscape or a surrealist dreamscape. Simple, practical stuff like making an ombre wall or a tape-geometric colorscape over a soundproofing panel is what I might call artistic but not actually art. I think of art as requiring skill and having a message. I can make things look nice, but very little of it is anything I'd think of as art per se. So I'm a lot more impressed by representational art, or the more elaborate abstracts, that I'm sure I couldn't replicate, require serious skill and talent, and say something coherent.
4. Where is the line between art and not art?
That depends on the context.
Anthropological: Art is anything made for decoration rather than practicality.
Prestige: Fine art is stuff made mostly by people who are rich and male (e.g. oil paintings, sculptures). Folk art is stuff made mostly by people who are poor and female (e.g. quilts, art yarn).
Personal: If I can do it, then it's not really art. Things like painting a canvas one solid color as a "statement," that's an arteest showing off; it doesn't take the kind of skill as a realistic landscape or a surrealist dreamscape. Simple, practical stuff like making an ombre wall or a tape-geometric colorscape over a soundproofing panel is what I might call artistic but not actually art. I think of art as requiring skill and having a message. I can make things look nice, but very little of it is anything I'd think of as art per se. So I'm a lot more impressed by representational art, or the more elaborate abstracts, that I'm sure I couldn't replicate, require serious skill and talent, and say something coherent.