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. Ivan Seeking

    Marvel at Jin Yin Hua's Micro-Panda Art

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4836662.stm His teeny tiny art gallery charges a very small admission price.
  2. Cyrus

    What are some stunning examples of world art and architecture?

    In this thread I hope to share various things I find on the internet about various cultures around the world. I would like to find things about art and architecture mostly, but at this point its too early to tell. :smile: I was going to do this in the other thread I started on Santiago...
  3. Cyrus

    Witnessing a Buddhist Sand Mandala at My School

    At my school there is a small art gallery located above the food courts. Today they had some Buddhist monks making sand mandalas. I had heard about them but never actually saw one until today. There were 4 monks making a mandala on a big square 4-legged table. It was quite exquisite and...
  4. daniel_i_l

    A gravity graph is a kind of art "tool" that lets you draw nice geometric shapes

    A gravity graph is a kind of art "tool" that let's you draw nice geometric shapes. It has a board the size of a piece of paper that is weighted in the middle, each of the corners is connected to a piece of string and the strings are tied to a small rectangle (paralell to the board) about 1.5...
  5. M

    Mathematica Mathematics Inspires Art: Aleph-1 and Goedel's Theorem

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,,1699203,00.html story about and link to someone's mathematically inspired 'art' (if printing an equation or mathematical symbol is artistic to you). be warned the descriptions of the equations/symbols can induce speechlessness and not in a...
  6. Ivan Seeking

    Ramona Bell [wife of Art Bell] dead at 47

    I hadn't checked in on C to C for awhile and had absolutely no idea! She died on Jan 5th, apparently from an asthma attack. Bell talked about it in detail on the Sunday night show. This must have hit Art Bell very hard as he and his wife were obviously very much in love. She seemed like a...
  7. O

    Metaphysics is Art: Exploring the Boundaries of Science and Invention

    The only thing that will be left to study in the future is philosophy. It is science that will end. Once all our practical scientific-technical problems have been solved, and we can manipulate all matter and ourselves infinitely, then only philosophy-metaphysics-art will be left, and that study...
  8. M

    Troubleshooting Album Art Issues in Windows XP

    I have a question about album art in windows xp. A lot of my music was taken from backup disks and didn't come with album art, they were burnt under windows me. I've went ahead and searched a P2P network for album art and retrieved most of what I need. The problem I am having is that quite a few...
  9. Ivan Seeking

    Fiber art: A new alternative to paint?

    This human interest story caught my attention. Could this be a new art form? http://www.lubbesmeyerstudio.com/_media/popups_and_thumbnails/l_poppies.jpg http://www.lubbesmeyerstudio.com/
  10. JamesU

    Create Art with Artpad: Watch Your Drawing Come to Life!

    http://artpad.art.com draw things, and it makes a video out of them. I'll give a link to one of my drawings when I find one...
  11. Janus

    Producing 3D Art with POV-Ray: Spirograph-like Patterns

    Okay, I'm sure that most of you are familiar with Spirograph. You could make all kinds of neat patterns with it. Well, the other day I was doing some playing around with my ray-tracer (POV-Ray), and after a while I came up with something that reminded me of one of those Spirogragh drawings...
  12. Pengwuino

    News [Poll] Should highly biased art be placed in government buildings

    [Poll] Should highly biased art be placed in US government buildings So what do you think? Should partisan artwork be allowed in government buildings such as court houses, libraries, and the DMV (or as its more popularly known as, hell). And to clarify, artwork that would be considered a...
  13. Astronuc

    Our Hard Drive Which art internal Volume C by name

    Our Morning Prayer :biggrin: Our Hard Drive Which art internal Volume C by name; Thy code be clean, Thy fonts be seen On screen as they are on paper. Give us this day our documents, And lead us not into fragmentation But deliver us our data. For thine is the SCSI, And the EISA...
  14. B

    If you just don't like abstract art then don't look at it.

    Here is one of my pictures. I make these in Paint. I chose this one because it's pretty good, but not so good I'd feel funny about sharing it. If you just don't like abstract art then don't look at it.
  15. motai

    Are science and art diametrically opposed?

    Recently I watched a documentary on Vladimir Nabokov's outlook on Kafka's Metamorphosis, and he made the comment, "The passion of science and the precision of art." Usually it is interpreted the other way around "The precision of science and the passion of art" according to modern...
  16. R

    State of the art nuclear reactors?

    Hi I have a report to write title "state of the art nuclear reactors" however the content of this is up to my own interpretation.I have taken "state-of-the-art" to mean the highest level of development of a device/ technique at a particular time, so what would this mean in terms of nuclear...
  17. T

    The Easiest Martial Art to Learn for Self-Defense

    I want to learn martial art, which is the easiest of them to have some ability to defend myself?
  18. C

    Art How do people digest modern art?

    How do people digest modern art? I mean its so ugly and still people pay big bucks for it. Do they just do it to show that they are more cultured or something like that? The paintings are painings rather. They are so uncky. One thing: Michelangelo, etc paintings of nude people is treated with...
  19. T

    Decoding the Art Critic's Letter: Uncovering His Favorite Works of Art

    I once knew an art critic who was also a brilliant mathematican, unfortunately he couldn't read. He could understand letters as variables and oddly enough acronyms, but not as words. So when I received a letter from him telling me which three works of art are his absolute favorites of all time...
  20. humanino

    The Art of Alibi: A Virtual World of Appearances

    I could hardly believe what I read. Maybe this is common, and everybody has his own. I just discovered. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Alibi If you speak french, you can already use it. Otherwise, they say they will soon be available in english, and also for Monique :-p So the story...
  21. A

    String Theory & Art: Exploring Extra Dimensions

    I am an art student who has become fascinated by string theory, particularly the fact that it predicts ten or eleven dimensions of space. I am trying to conduct research into how the idea of their being more dimensions of reality than the three dimentions of space and one of time could affect...
  22. Monique

    Chemistry imitating art: Borromean knot created

    Published in Science, researchers decribe how they have made a molecule that is made up of three interlocking rings, also known as a Borromean knot. No rings are connected unless a third ring interconnects them. They let the structure assemble spontaneously by specially designing the ring...
  23. jimmy p

    Oh Tribdog, where art thou?

    LOST: One dog, answers to the name Trib. LAST SEEN: One of these threads a while back, or off somewhere insulting his girlfriend. REWARD IF FOUND! (Aunt Tsu's cookies!) (Reward subject to availability)
  24. E

    Is Mu Alpha Theta's Problem Solving Text Worth It for Competition Math Prep?

    http://www.mualphatheta.org/Links/MAO_Links_Books_Problem_Solving.htm I think the text is by Mu Alpha Theta... Does anyone know or used this text before? Thanks...
  25. S

    Cubist Art and the Monte Carlo Effect

    This idea of dimension seemed an appropriate response to what I see in the Monte Carlo effect. I mean here we are trying to descibe what dimenison might mean in terms of a gravity issue. Brane world scenarios. Are we not also trying give dimension a boost here in what we understand of the...
  26. C

    Is Art Worth the Time and Effort?

    Why is art (painting, photography, literature, music, film, sculpture, etc) often put up on the same pedestal as science? Among names like Einstein, Poincare, Newton, and Gauss in a typical list of great contributors to humankind, you'll find names like Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Rembrandt, Da...
  27. phoenixthoth

    Math Art Sites: Exploring the Beauty of Numbers

    maybe we can get a list of math art sites. here's mine: takes a while to load. about 750kb. http://www.alephnulldimension.net/phoenix/mathart/.
  28. FZ+

    Is the Beauty of Knowledge Enough?

    Traditionally, it has been maintained that science and art are separate subjects - perhaps even diametrically opposed. But I hypothesise that true scientific endeavour is art in action, and that a good theory is an art form. First, what is art? Definition: 1. [n] the creation of...
  29. D

    Art Bell Returns: Weekend Replacing Barbara Simpson

    For Art Bell fans, there is good news. He's going to be replacing Barbara Simpson on the weekends. This is great because it will mean that there's the possibility he'll do the next Coast to Coast interview with Michio Kaku. George Norry's cool and he will continue to run the show Mon-Fri...
  30. Ivan Seeking

    Baja California Rock Art Dated to 7,500 Years Ago

    "The ancient dates for the paintings cast little light on the mystery of who made them and why, but it suggests that whoever the painters were they came well before the Aztecs established their culture in central Mexico some 3,000 years ago."...
  31. E

    What Makes Art Appreciation So Subjective?

    Perhaps it's simply the asthetic that attracts my attention, but I've always held a certain fondness for the simplisitc beauty of Picasso's Enamel Saucepan. http://www.kinneret.co.il/afikim/picasso/yom0.files/image004.jpg Post an image (of reasonable kByte-size) of something you...
  32. Loren Booda

    What's your favorite modern art form?

    Find your muse in the gallery below. Feel free to embellish.
  33. S

    Art and politics, where to draw the line?

    this is a problem i have been thinking about for months now, it truly has me stumped! i need to hear some different ideas to clear things up in my head... a while ago i saw the movie 'taking sides' about a german conductor being investigated for collaborating with hitler during the second...
  34. I

    Is Art Still the Driving Force Behind Culture, or Has Entertainment Taken Over?

    Most of you I presume are at least familair with some type of art. You've seen the Mona Lisa, you know who painted the Sistine Chapel, and possibly some of you are artist. I know one person besides me on this forum is only because he's my brother :) The question I have is more for non-artist...
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