This has bled over from a clan, of course, but it has me asking questions.

Some people think photomanipulation, such as this...



... isn't art because it is photomanipulation. Furthermore, some people don't consider this...



... to be art because hours of work didn't go into making it.


Is art measured by the effort put in, or the meaning looking to be gotten? Is it expression, or exertion? What defines art as art, what defines not art as not art?

Art is subjective. Some people see art in the landscapes, while other people just see you know.. trees, mountains, etc. Some people see art in stacking tin cans, others just see some idiot stacking tin cans. Effort is only some people definitions of art, because they mostly don't see the effort put into other things they don't consider art.

Yay grade 12 art exam.

Art is literally in the eye of the beholder. Two people can look at the same piece and one of them will see great meaning and depth and substance and call it art and the other won't see those things and won't think it's art at all.

This doesn't just go for electronically generated pieces. This can be said about elaborate oil on canvas paintings that take months to finish.

Asking, "what is art," is asking for a different answer from every single person.

Personally, I think that if something has meaning to someone, is telling some truth that someone hears or sees, then it is art. But, just because something is art, doesn't mean you have to like it.

Art is about expression for me. If you have a drawing of a person and their face is completely neutral while they are fighting a bugbear, I won't like it. The entire scene should have some kind of atmosphere. I am not a huge fan of photomanip, so I like to tease Myrkr.

Summary: art is one of those things where it means whatever you want it to mean at any given time. Consensus is vague and sparse. The "no true scotsman" position is used for things you don't think are good enough, took enough effort, express , etc.

There are many definitions of art, but I feel like defining art by how much time it takes to make is kind of silly.

The what?




Yeah, there are origami that are really amazing works of art that take just a few minutes to create.

"No Scotsman puts sugar on their porridge."
"My Scottish uncle puts sugar on his porridge all the time!"
"But no TRUE Scotsman puts sugar on their porridge!"

Scotsman: person from Scotland
True Scotsman: person from Scotland who doesn't put sugar on their porridge

True art: art that took more effort than regular art
etc.