nebport5 wrote: Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:12 am
Brad wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 1:01 pm
Art is a really broad term. Here is one definition I like:
"a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination"
It's hard to argue with that. Certainly a more inclusive definition than what those who have a hard time appreciating abstract, obscure and modern/post-modern styles may care to include. I struggle with appreciating much of modern art yet still respect it as an art form.
I think the new Kaneko piece is indeed art. Kaneko has a distinct and recognizable style. It may not be something you care for but it does elicit an emotional response which I believe art should do.
In regard to "the bean", as a piece it works in the context of Millennium Park and creates some interesting reflections particularly in the evening. As a human photo selfie op, it's lost on me because I think it looks less like a bean and more like the worlds largest breast implant.
I don’t think that’s a proper definition at all. If it was, any industrial design would count. A pencil would be art. A driveway. Anything you can see that isn’t found in nature. In fact, that definition is close to a definition of “industrial design” (though it omits the utilitarian aspect).
To say nothing of the fact that music isn’t visual. Neither is spoken-word poetry. Or spoken storytelling.
And what about literature? True you can technically see the words - unless they’re in braille - but the words are just ink on a page. It’s the concepts that they represent that matter.
Otherwise it’s like saying “War and Peace” is a completely new work when it’s translated into Swedish, because the ink on the page is arranged differently.
“Art” is a selective recreation of reality based on an artist’s value judgements in order to convey those values.
The artist decides what elements of reality to incorporate into a given medium in order to express a value judgement.
