The Definition of Art

Art [ärt] n. The skilful, systematic arrangement or adaptation of means for the attainment of some end, especially by human endeavor as opposed to natural forces.1

If you open up a dictionary, more than likely, this is something like what you’ll read. If you ask an actual artist, there’s a much different answer. Ad Reinhardt stated, “Art is art. Everything else is everything else.” Ani Difranco said, “Art is why I get up in the morning; my definition ends there.”2 Quite simply, many don’t have an answer. Why don’t they? Why does this simple, three-letter word stump those that supposedly practice it?

In the world, most artists and art educators hold on to the view that art can’t be defined as if it were their religion.3 They reason that all the pieces we call art today do not all have a distinctive feature in common. If this feature did exist, then anything with this feature was art and anything without it is not.

But if this holds true, that there is no true definition, then there is no way to reject anything as being art. Basically, anything you say is art. You could kill a cow, surround it by its own innards, take photos, and call them art. You could take a canvas, make a scribble in the middle, and call it art. Are these examples really art? I hardly think so. So there must be SOME definition.

If there was no real definition, then why are there art schools? How can you teach that that has no meaning? There would be no rules, no guidelines, and no standards. Anyone could be a so-called “great artist” based upon that persons view on themselves. Imagine what a mess teachers would be in if they didn’t know what life was in biology.

Perhaps we should take a look at some supposed “art.” Barnett Newman, in his 1950 piece called “Eve,” hardly fits the description I think of when I think of true art.4 This piece is basically a large red rectangle with a brown edge. There is no real skill involved. There is no reason why someone not an artist couldn’t have created this piece. I’m not even sure it is that aesthetically pleasing. Is this art?

Maybe another artist, Kazuo Shiraga, could show us what art is. His work includes large paintings that he used his feet to paint. It reminds me of kindergartners using their feet with finger paint. Is art really just scribbles? Is art just shapes?

The Turner Prize, the United Kingdom’s highest honor for artistic achievement should be a good place to look for art… or so you would think. The 2002 Turner Prize (also consists of $40,000) was given to Keith Tyson for taking discarded computers and putting them in a large, black box. The other finalists were Fiona Banner and Liam Gillick. Banner had entered a billboard that simply has pornographic text written on it. Gillick made a ceiling of colored squares not much unlike what my basement ceiling looks like. It just isn’t white. Previous winners include a dead sheep in a tank of formaldehyde. It was put there by Damian Hirst. Chris Ofili “painted” a portrait of the Virgin Mary with elephant dung. Martin Creed has won with a white room with a single white light bulb that blinks. Tracy Emin entered a bed soiled with condoms and tampons and was in utter disarray.5 These are the prize-winning, great pieces of artwork that represent our time period?

“The purpose of art is to create an emotional response in the person that is exposed to that art. And there are three categories of art; bad art, good art and great art. Bad art will elicit no emotional response in the person that is exposed to it, i.e.; a song you hear in an elevator and it does nothing to you, a picture on a wall that gives you the same emotional response as if the wall had been blank, a movie that chews up time. Good art will make you feel an emotion that you have felt before; you see a picture of a forest and you remember the last time you went fishing with your dad, you hear a song about love and you remember the last time you were in love. Great art will make you feel an emotion you have never felt before; seeing the pieta, the world famous sculpture by Michelangelo, can cause someone to feel the pain of losing a child even if they’ve never had one. And when you’re trying for these emotions the easiest one to trigger is anger. Anyone can do it. Go into the street, throw a rock at someone, you will make them angry. The emotions of love, empathy and laughter are much harder to trigger, but since they operate on a deeper level, they bring a much greater reward.” ~Paul O’Neill6

Paul O’Neill of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra stated that art pulls an emotion out of the viewer or audience. Personally, I agree with this viewpoint on art. There is more to it though. There is skill involved. Those artists who can spin or change reality in their pieces are held in higher regard to me.

Salvador Dalí is one of those artists I believe. He was a surreal painter who painted impossible scenes that though impossible… seemed real. If you look at his piece, “Reflection of Elephants,” you see a lake with trees popping out of it in the middle of some canyons. There are also three swans swimming in the lake. Looking at it more closely, you’ll start to notice all the things that couldn’t really happen. A man is as tall as canyons. The swans’ reflections look like elephants. The tree limbs bend in ways that trees normally wouldn’t. The clouds take on unreal forms. Despite all of this, it blends together smoothly and elegantly with a flair that few artists could hope to achieve.

So then what are the parts that define art? The first is skill. It takes practice. You’re not going to learn how to create a masterpiece overnight. The second part is presentation. Art is visual. Color, shape, texture, proportion, weight, emphasis, and more all mesh together to create a composition. Art is always meant for someone to view it. Even if that someone is only yourself. Concept is another part. It is displaying an idea or emotion to the viewer. Sometimes there’s even a message behind the piece that’s more than just a feeling. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then there’s a lot you could say in one or two paintings. It communicates to the viewer. The artwork also needs to be coherent. It doesn’t take any skill at all to create a mess.

So is there a set definition for art? Not exactly… but there are attributes that make a piece of artwork better than others. When you use all these attributes together and with purpose, then you can start to call your work art.


1. “Art.” Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary. 6th ed. 1963.
2. http://quotes.prolix.nu
3. http://www.aristos.org
4. http://www.tate.org.uk
5. http://www.art-for-a-change.com
6. http://www.trans-siberian.com