Do you consider art ....

[BertiWooster]

.....to be a subjective thing ?

What is the definition of art ?

- Do you consider the following to be art ?

-an unmade bed

- a pile of sand in the middle of a room .

Would it be considered art if joe bloggs deposited a pile of sand in the middle of a room ? .

Who decides what is art ?

[bibblebub]

1 yes, in that I disagree with what a lot arty people call art
2 representation of real life and of an individual's imagination (which means that it is not so far from science)
3 no
3 no
4 no
5 usually those people who set themselves up as art critics or the artist's groupies

I've always been very very pro-science vs. art, but maybe I'm softening as I get older.

[BertiWooster]

We all know the 'artist' whose unmade bed was considered art - so why would it not be considered art if Joe Bloggs did it ?

[boxtops]

The unmade bed artists revealed a large pink neon sign in her home town of Margate (near here) in the summer. Not what I call art. But - art and beauty are in the eye of the beholder, each to their own. That pile of ceramic seeds laid all over the floor of the Tate looked like - odd - to me. We have people round here who are given funding for Public Art - it's usually in places nobody ever goes and certainly most people here would rather it were spent on something more useful.

[Buenchico]

At its best, art should stir one's emotions and/or imagination.

Like you, Berti (apparently), I can find it difficult to relate to some of the works which compete for the Turner Prize each year but there are some current artists (in the widest sense) whose work I absolutely adore. They include the photographer Martin Parr, the architects working for de Rijke Marsh Morgan and just about anyone finding 21st century applications for Art Deco.

I'm hoping that young Kieron Williamson will soon gain the confidence to produce some really original works. He painted these pictures last year (when he was still 7 years old). If he can go on to develop a truly individual style, the art world could soon be seeing something really mind-blowing!
http://www.kieronwill...ge/en-GB/Default.aspx

Chris

[Andyvon]

Well, if an unmade bed is considered to be art, then I didn't realise what great artistic talents I've been hiding all these years !

The last art museum I visited was the modern art museum in Salzburg. I struggled to understand any of it, especially a series of pornographic photographs being dusted by a butler named Peter! An entire top floor exhibition hall contained about 40 large canvases, each covered with spattered paint!

I like convenional art such as those works in the Louvre or National Gallery. I think if paintings represent long-gone scenes or portraits they can have a particular fascination and appeal.

[sandyRoe]

If a row of bricks can be art, why not a heap of sand?

[bibblebub]

What do you think about the Sunflower Seeds in the Turbine Hall? Walk on a pebble beach and you are interacting with the history of the Earth, far more interesting than someone's collection of porcelain humbugs.

[swedeheart]

The most valid definition of what's art I've ever heard was given, if memory serves, by painter Ernst Billgren. He said that art is whatever at least two people agree upon to be art: The artist and at least one other person.

[Buenchico]

Well, since we've got a Scandinavian participant on this thread, I'll point out that something which is mainly functional can also be stunning 'art':
http://commons.wikime...3%96resund_bridge.JPG

Chris

[jno]

if Rembrandt painted an unmade bed, would anyone doubt that it was art? If Rodin sculpted one?

[jaydah]

The wonder of each bird seed having a different pattern is awesome - NOT !

[swedeheart]

Ah yes Chris the bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen. When I was a teenager living in Malmö there were ferries at 1,5 hour intervals and hovercraft every thirty minutes and every time I see the bridge I miss the boats... Never seen the bridge in real life though - have you?

[Buenchico]

Perhaps, Jno, the argument is that Rembrandt and Rodin would have been displaying their exceptional talents in order to create a REPRESENTATION of a bed, rather than making the bed itself (or, more accurately, leaving it unmade!).

Tracey Emin would claim that her art lay in the 'concept', rather than the 'creation' of the work. Such an idea is valid for, say, Norman Foster (as he only has the concepts for buildings, rather than actually building them) but, to me, it appears a little more tenous in relation to Ms Emin's work.

[jaydah]

My chihuahua raided the bin for the garlic ciabatta packaging and has hidden it under the glass topped table..................that's art !

[boxtops]

I've seen it on Google Earth - also the bridge at Millau in France, that looks very scary, even from the Google satellite, you can see the massive shadow it casts!

[swedeheart]

boxtops the Öresund Bridge scares me cos the last part of it is underwater =:0

[Buenchico]

Swedeheart:
Here's the second question I ever posted on AB ;-)
http://www.theanswerb...s/Question143501.html

[swedeheart]

Interesting reply from sddsddean there chris, I hadn't realised the reason. / I remember when the Öresund Bridge was being built and we were talking about it at work I said nothing could convince me to travel under water, ever, and my boss laughed at me and informed me that I was already travelling under water for a short spell every time I went by subway around Old Town here in Stockholm. He found it hilarious that I had never wondered were the hell the sky went all of a sudden. He had a point!

[BertiWooster]

Here is someone's definition of art

- Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions, and/or intellect. -

I suppose my idea of art is what I suppose would be labelled ' traditional ' art .

I find it difficult ( like you Chris ) to relate to what some , considers to be art .

I really do struggle to understand , and i'm not influenced by - nor are my senses or emotions affected by - a canvas totally painted black or a tank full of oil or a pile of bricks deposited in a heap on a floor .