Snapped by Melissa
Art? What is it? What makes a person artistic? These are questions I have been pondering for a little while – though not in such a focused way. It was not until one sleepy drive to work talking to Krishen did the formal question take shape.
Me … I look at it simply as ‘a means of bringing pleasure to your senses’. This is maybe an over simplification that allows for too many things in the ‘artistic’ range. Dictionary.com reports art as: “Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature” and/or “High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value” [they have 9 definitions in total]
The thing is these can all be reduced down to just ‘pleasuring the senses’. This would explain while some people find music to be artful and other find it noise. Some find paintings brilliant while others see it as a waste of paper. Thus to be artistic is ‘the ability of being able to bring pleasure to others’. Implying, of-course, that it can be learned (which is my only real hope!).
You have 5 senses, visual, taste, touch, sound, and smell. And good art will appeal to these senses. Good food, gardens, music, painting, etc. There is also a ‘6th sense’ of the “mind” that I believe can play a role too. This is the sense that enjoys learning, understanding, and challenging. Thus making the Rubiks Cube and artistic challenge. This is also the “sense” that appeals to the art that provides the stronger negative emotions … the war photos, etc. Though – this sense may not be defined in any books … I believe it is there.
These are my thoughts … my ramblings … what are you opinions … what does “art” mean to you?
Another snapped by Melissa, guess you guys know who is the artist in the family eh?
Hehehe…. you posted on this after all. That second shot is beautiful!
A quandry I posed to you in the car: is it enough to simply appeal to the senses? Ice cream appeals to me at one of my most base levels, but I’m not sure I’d call it art. Just tasty.
But … I would say that good ice-cream would be art just as a good meal is artful. Mass produced ice-cream is kinda like mass produced pictures you find in Walmart … still nice, still art, just not special. Now … Settimi’s … they are artists!
Dogs, poker, ’nuff said.