Re: Definition of art (caution, no looping c

[lance glover <baumhaus@earthlink.net>]

mark sottilaro wrote:

> Hey,
>
> OK, here's the modern excepted definition of fine art:
>
> Art is human expression which has no use other than to define itself.
> Cooking, is not considered a fine art, as it's main function is to
> transfer
> nutrients from food, to humans.  Cooking, is a craft.  The different
> from art
> and craft is in the purpose.  Are there aesthetics used in cooking?
> Of
> course, but the use of aesthetics principals doesn't necessarily
> produce fine
> art.  Of course you pick a pleasant color when you paint your house,
> but the
> main reason you paint it (or aluminum side it) is to protect the wood
> from the
> elements.  Painting a house is not art, but craft.  Painting a mural
> on a
> house is art because there is no reason to do this, other than to
> express an
> idea or feeling.  Fine art has no other purpose other than to be
> itself.
>
> Oh boy, I bet that I've opened up a can of worms!
>
> Mark.

Right on that. Your reasoning reminds me of the duller art history
classes I took in college many years ago. The more interesting classes
dealt with paradigms less Euro- and Western Civ-oriented, which noted
many fascinating things about how art has been viewed around the world;
in Japan, for example, serving a small meal such as tea has attained the
status of what "we in the West" would call "Fine Art", in fact, the
Japanese tea ceremony is enriched by a depth of cultural association
which is likely beyond the comprehension of most Westerners.

Likewise, in Bali, there is not even a word for what we call Art, as the
indigenous culture there is so pregnant with creative energy it is
impossible to ascertain a difference between "Art" and "Non-Art" (Aussie
sufers aside). But to bring the argument closer to home, I live in Santa
Monica, California; here there is a Museum of Functional Art, which does
not discriminate between "craft" and "art"; there is even an art piece
masquarading as a "Museum of Jurassic Technology". If you look around
the "art world" today, I think you will find these solid demarkations so
obvious to you as merely scratches in the dust being rapidly obliterated
by the winds of change.

Andy Warhol showed us that art is whatever you make it; if there is an
artist and an audience (perhaps even just the artist his/herself), then
there is art.

Cheerio,

Lance G.

P. S. Yes, there could be art in aluminum siding.