What is Art: Definition and 184 Discussions

Art is a diverse range of (products of) human activities involving creative imagination to express technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art, and ideas have changed over time. The three classical branches of visual art are painting, sculpture, and architecture. Theatre, dance, and other performing arts, as well as literature, music, film and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences. In modern usage after the 17th century, where aesthetic considerations are paramount, the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general, such as the decorative or applied arts.
The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. The resulting artworks are studied in the professional fields of art criticism and the history of art.

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  1. J

    A What is the state of the art in solving polynomial equations?

    Hi folks, I know the work from Galois showing it is not possible to solve certain equations using only a certain type of numbers. But that was more than 100 years ago, I suppose lots of progress has been made on this topic. So my question is, What has been discovered to solve polynomial...
  2. DigitalPanda213

    Studying A changing focus from Art to Engineering

    Alrighty, here we go. I'm currently a junior in high school (going into my senior year this fall), and my plan was always to become an artist as i thought it the way i could make a change in the world; however, I've begun to think pursuing engineering (particularly electrical) will enable me to...
  3. Greg Bernhardt

    PF Contest: Equations as Art

    The goal is to create the most beautiful or interesting equation aesthetically (pleasing to the eye). This is not about it's significance. Each member is allowed to post one equation. The equation can be completely new and made up (doesn't have to be famous). Be creative! The equation must be...
  4. ujjwal3097

    Schools Physics at liberal art college or engineering college

    hi I am an high school students and currently looking forward to apply for undergrad physics program in US universities but i am bit confused university is asking whether i am applying to college of art and science or engineering college .I am want to be an theoretical physicist /or...
  5. M

    What are the prequisites for studying The Art of Computer Programming?

    Hi friends, I have an avid interest on Mathematics and progranming and am working very hard to become a great computer scientist/ engineer. I have been researching books that woukd help me in this goal and by all accounts, TAOCP is one of them. I am convinced that studying this book wilk...
  6. T

    This algorithm can judge “creativity” in art like an expert

    http://qz.com/425662/picasso-genius-this-algorithm-can-judge-creativity-in-art-as-well-as-the-experts/
  7. Daoyang

    What creative possibilities lie at the intersection of science and art?

    Hi all! So here I am, a Frenchman living in China, working on some madcap art projects involving science. I already posted a question here about one art installation I am working on, which involves stars, light, and (possibly?) optical fibers... Feel free to check it out if you're interested...
  8. Riccardo Lardi

    The Aesthetics of impossible or unreal physical phenomena

    I know this may not be a typical question for the Physics board. I am a MA Design student working on a project to illustrate experiments on speculative/fictional physical events. My final work will consist of strongly simplified staged experiment lab situations and should touch on the imaginary...
  9. DrPapper

    Engineering Art of Electronics 3rd Edition

    Has anyone seen the newest edition? Is it much better than the 2nd? I own the 2nd but am interested in the newer one if it's better.
  10. A

    Photographing the Unusual: Exploring Special Effects with Plasma Balls

    Hi Found this by googling Plasma Ball, as I am a keen photographer looking to photograph the unusual , to get special effects, Hope you don't mind me being here as not a scientist or student, Anyone interested can take a look at my work on Flickr...
  11. DrPapper

    Art of Electronics Question 1.14

    Homework Statement There is a circuit diagram which I can't post atm and don't think it's relevant to my question. Also: R1 =R2=10k and C=.1μF And: Find V(t) Homework Equations We're given the equation V(t)=1/RC ∫t-∞ Vi(t)e-(t-τ)/RCdτ My problem is I don't recall what tau is here "τ" and...
  12. E

    Quandary: Art Project Seeks Movement

    Hello, and thank you in advance. My friend is a glassblower, and I am a woodworker. He makes lovely ballerina pendants, and I had thought it would be nice to set one in a display that let the ballerina spin around. (point of contact being her pointed toe) I mulled the idea over long enough...
  13. G

    Concentrating sunlight to accomplish projection (Art project)

    Hello! First of all I want to say that I am not a physicist, but an artist currently doing my master thesis. I have been trying to build a solar powered slide projector. It works very simple – I reflect sunlight through a slide and enlarge it with a lens. My problem was that I wanted more...
  14. wolram

    Show Us Your Art Work - What's Yours Like?

    Scooby used to post some of his art, it was very god too, so what is your art work like?
  15. M

    "State of the Art" in nonlinear differential equations?

    In my introductory ODE class we have focused mostly on linear differential equations. I know that nonlinear differential equations are much harder to solve, and I am wondering what exactly the "state of the art" methods are for dealing with them, or also what recent developments have been made...
  16. S

    MHB Lightning Addition: Master the Art of Mental Math

    . . . . . Lightning Addition Give your volunteer a sheet of paper, a pencil and a calculator. Then give him these instructions. Number the lines 1 to10. On the first line, write any one-digit number. On the second line, write any one-digit number. On the third line, write the sum of the 1st...
  17. Hercuflea

    Android music app that DOESN'T show album art?

    Hi, I've been searching for a way to turn off album art on my lockscreen for a Samsung galaxy note 3. Every time I look for something like this on the playstore, it comes up with a bunch of apps for people who WANT their album art displayed on the lockscreen while playing. Some of the bands I...
  18. atyy

    Are Particles or Fields More Fundamental in Quantum Mechanics?

    This thread continues the discussion at https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=767018
  19. neilparker62

    State of the art on H line spectra?

    Hi Here is the number for the measured frequency for hydrogen 1s to 2s transition: 2 466 061 413 187 035 Hz By way of interest, what is our most accurate theoretical calculation of this number? I've tried the ordinary Bohr formula and it is only accurate to about 4 places. I'm also...
  20. R

    Alternative/Supplement to Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill?

    Hello PF, I am currently in an Analog Electronics course that comes with a lab. We use Art of Electronics (AoE) by Horowitz and Hill as our textbook, but after reading through it, I'm starting to feel that it's not as suited for a Physics course as it is for say, an Electrical Engineering...
  21. MarkFL

    MHB Math Related ASCII Art Hypercube, Mandelbrot Set, Sierpinski Gasket

    Hypercube: +___________+ /:\ ,:\ / : \ , : \ / : \ , : \ / : +-----------+ +...:../:...+ : /| |\ +./.:...`...+ / | | \ ,`/ : :` ,`/ | | \ /`. : : ` /` | | ...
  22. A

    Music Classifying Music: A Complex Art

    How do you classify music? Music is so complex that it seems impossible to categorize it but still there are so many genres. Here are a few common:- -Rock -Pop -Classical -Rap -Hip-hop Some classify based on the instrument used, some based on how you sing but I don't understand...
  23. Greg Bernhardt

    Art Amazing Fractal Art - Favorite Designs

    What are some of your favorite fractal art? http://lava360.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/fractal-world11.jpg
  24. M

    Is the Mini Mona Lisa the smallest version of the famous painting yet?

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130805131115.htm
  25. J

    Have You Seen This Abstract Art Inspired by Physics?

    Hey everyone.. Not sure why I made this but I'm going to post it anyways haha. If you like to graphic design or have seen abstract art similar please post here:) I created this art from scratch. I attached the image.. created by using GIMP on a linux distro:)
  26. 462chevelle

    Mastering the Art of Proofs: Tips for Struggling Learners

    does anyone have any tips on learning how to do proofs. completing a proof isn't something I am good at, at all. I know how to get answers and I can do the math but explaining it to someone step by step, using the right communication. Seems like a foreign language to me. any tips on learning...
  27. Z

    Archaic Arts Magazine - Interviews & Stories by Kevin J. Anderson & Jeff Wilson

    Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted here, and I'll make this short 'n sweet. As one or two of you might have been aware, I've been working on my own science fiction/fantasy magazine, and we just launched recently. And yes, we do pay for our stories and art pieces (as we can)...
  28. C

    Art of Electronics Exercise 4.3 Operational inverter

    Homework Statement The circuits in Figure 4.14 let you invert or amplify without inversion, by flipping a switch. The voltage gain is either +1 or -1, depending on the switch position. http://tinypic.com/r/2hnql2c/6 http://tinypic.com/r/2hnql2c/6 Homework Equations Gain for the first...
  29. Evo

    TV chef Art Ginsburg, 'Mr. Food,' dies at 81

    Awww, the day before Thanksgiving. :frown: R.I.P Mr Food! http://tv.yahoo.com/news/tv-chef-art-ginsburg-mr-food-dies-81-155816058.html
  30. bcrowell

    State of the art re the geodesic hypothesis

    Stated loosely, the geodesic hypothesis says that test particles follow geodesics, where "test particle" means it has to be small in some sense (size, mass, ...), and there is an ambiguity in the word "geodesics" because we want to talk about geodesics of the spacetime that would have existed...
  31. U

    Front engine dragsters: where science met art.

    Here's a neat sight I found on Faceplant. Look for the photos of the "Original RAMCHARGERS". These guys were engineers at Chrysler that formed a car club called "The RAMCHARGERS" and changed drag racing history. They were a combination of enthusiastic young hands on engineers and car club...
  32. russ_watters

    News Spin and the Coming Election: The Art of Cherry-Picking Facts

    Spin is the art of presenting facts in such a way as to make yourself look good. The best spin, IMO, utilizes accurate facts (to avoid being shown a liar), but utilizes cherry-picking and carefully worded descriptions to paint a picture much more favorable than another view might present. In...
  33. T

    Is logical positivism really dead? Where art metaphysics?

    I keep hearing that logical positivism has been dead since the 1950s, yet it seems that most philosophy conducted nowadays STILL tends to avoid discussion of metaphysics altogether. Is the subject matter simply too difficult? The main new area in analytic philosophy over the last fifty years is...
  34. O

    Solving Math Challenges with Art of Problem Solving

    I'm tutoring some high school kids right now, but I don't actually own any high-school level math books. We've just been working out of the books they use at school. But I'm getting very irritated with their books. One kid has this geometry book that makes me want to pull my hair out. It's...
  35. J

    Is astrology an art or a science?

    I've read in an online article that astronomy, the science as we know it, developed from astrology, which many people today consider as a pseudo-science? Do you think it is fair to believe that astronomy had its roots in astrology? And wouldn't be the astronomy facts, as we know it, become null...
  36. N

    Schools Small Liberal Art Colleges Vs. Big Universities

    Is it better to go to a small liberal art college or a big university for someone who is looking to pursue a research career in physics? Discuss.
  37. N

    No graduate level electromagnetism? (Oh Jackson where art thou)

    Next year I'm doing the one year master program at Perimeter Institute, and I was surprised to realize that there is no grad-level electrodynamics class (level Jackson, I would suppose?). I then checked the Math Tripos III (applied math, aka theoretical physics) course list (where I also...
  38. E

    Where can I find examples of applications for trained ART and SOM networks?

    Hi! I attended a class in neural networks and I learned something about ART and SOM. I learned how to implement the learning algorithm, but then? I wasn't told how to use the trained net! I looked in Google and I didn't find much, everybody talks on how to train a neural net, but nobody says...
  39. Z

    Art X-ray use on fine art wood panels

    Warm greetings from a first time poster, Thank you for looking. I hope I posted in the correct category and apologize if I did not. My question revolves around a late 19th century painting on wood panel made of cypress with oak strapping (2.6cm thick). I'm having the panel...
  40. D

    The expansion of the universe art video

    Hey! I'm a filmmaker and just thought I'd post my video I made that is inspired by physics and the beauty of the universe. http://vimeo.com/36267608
  41. wolram

    Art Unleash Your Inner Artist: Share Your Art with Us!

    Are you an artist, let us see your art, do not be a pansy,your art may look good to us.
  42. A

    Art Queen Sonja of Norway's art debut

    Our (Consort) Queen Sonja has for years been known as a patron of the arts. Of high-bourgeouis origin (her father was just a bulk merchant of clothes fabrics, nobility was abolished in the 1820s Norway), she has also had the reputation of an insufferably nobility-aspiring b*tch (in particular...
  43. S

    Misc. Create Steel Art: Smiley Faces to Complex Structures

    Anyone? Anything? Even if I'm making little smiley faces on graphite? I'd love to make something that's more complex using steel, even if I have to stitch it together atom by atom.
  44. G

    Nick Blinko's Art: Fascinating & Frightening Schizophrenic Artwork

    These are by Nick Blinko, formerly lead singer of a punk rock band known as Rudimentary Peni. He's actually know probably more for his art work that he does all while completely off his medications to control his schizophrenia (for which he's been hospitalized for multiple times). I find the...
  45. D

    Holography & Art: Can it Accurately Reproduce Oil Paintings?

    Hi, I'm an aspiring SF writer, and had a question about holography. Do you think holography can advance to the point where it can accurately reproduce the colors, hues, and brushstrokes of oil paintings? For instance, if the Mona Lisa is scanned, frame and all, it could appear to hang on the...
  46. zoobyshoe

    Art Is Conceptual Art Still Relevant in Modern Society?

    Ah. I get it. Yes, well, it spread to PF, so... The standard definition of Conceptual Art back in the day was: art in which the concept of an artwork was, itself, the artwork. This was a subset of Modern Art, one weird branch of it. One of the best known conceptual artists was a...
  47. D

    Explore Interactive Art with Servomotors & Wood

    I was browsing through you-tube and found this video.. http://www.youtube.com/user/OUlearn#p/c/E4037752E877E4E5/11/BZysu9QcceM Its seems cool to me, one thing that is bugging me is how many servomotors did this guy used? This video has sequential vids, I think 3 more... this guy talks...
  48. F

    Calculate reconstructionmatrix for ART

    Hello I'm a student engineer and I'm trying to find the weighted reconstruction matrix used for ART image reconstruction. The weighted matrix gives for each projections what pixels are influenced by a ray from a laser. In attachment you see an image of what the problem is. The matrix must be...
  49. D

    Art project involving the moon

    Hey rocket folks - In light of those artists that deal with massive art, like covering an outdooors area with cloth and the like I thought it would be interesting to propose a world shaking art project. Yes, I know this would never fly with the world and it might cause problems with the...
  50. Simfish

    Kit for Art of Electronics (Horowitz and Hill)?

    Are there any large kits I could buy to practice circuits from the book? What about kits for any other famous EE textbooks? Especially for digital circuits? And how expensive would they be? == I know that it varies from person to person - but - how long do the circuits in the second half of...
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