What is Art?

Art plays a large part in making our lives infinitely rich. Imagine, just for a minute, a
world without art! (ou may think !"o what?!, #ut please consider the impact that
lack of graphics would have on your favourite video game.$ Art stimulates different
parts of our #rains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole range of
emotions in #etween. Art gives us a way to #e creative and e%press ourselves. &or
some people, art is the entire reason they get out of #ed in the morning. ou could say
!Art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well'rounded humans.!
(n the other hand, art is such a large part of our everyday lives, we hardly even stop
to think a#out it. )ook at the desk or ta#le where you are, right this minute. "omeone
designed that. It is art. our shoes are art. our coffee cup is art. All functional design,
well done, is art. "o, you could say !Art is something that is #oth functional and
(hopefully$ aesthetically pleasing to our eyes.! ou also might say !Art is in a
constant state of change, so no#ody can really pin down what it is.! ou might even
say !Art is su#jective, and means something different to every single person on earth.!
!Art is form and content! means* All art consists of these two things.
&orm means (+$ the elements of art, (,$ the principles of design and (-$ the actual,
physical materials that the artist has used. &orm, in this conte%t, is concrete and fairly
easily descri#ed ' no matter which piece of art is under scrutiny.
"uppose you.ve written* !(ne half of all art is form. /ere is how 0oya.s 1he
"hootings of 2ay 1hird, +343 fits in.! ou would then go on to provide details a#out
how 0oya used color, value, space and line (elements of art$. /e used #alance,
contrast, emphasis and proportion (principles of design$. /e composed the
aforementioned elements and principles on canvas, using #rushes and oil paints (the
physical part of !form!$.
1he e%ample just given employed a work of Western art. It doesn.t take much of a
leap in imagination, though, to understand that the concepts #ehind !form! could #e
applied to any piece of art, created anywhere on earth, at any time. With that, we have
successfully covered !form!.
!5ontent! is idea'#ased and means (+$ what the artist meant to portray, (,$ what the
artist actually did portray and (-$ how we react, as individuals, to #oth the intended
and actual messages.
Additionally, !content! includes ways in which a work was influenced ' #y religion,
or politics, or society in general. All of these factors, together, make up the !content!
side of art.
6eturning to the 0oya e%ample, you might comment on the fact that the shootings
were an actual event. 7apoleon had invaded "pain, at the time, and su#jected it to si%
years of war and revolution (political and social influences$. 1here had #een a revolt
#y citi8ens of 2adrid, and they were summarily e%ecuted (historical conte%t$. 0oya,
o#viously, didn.t think this was good and recorded the stark horror for all posterity.
(/e was successful at conveying that which he meant to convey.$ We react to the
painting in our different ways ' usually with mi%ed feeling of revulsion, anger and
sorrow.
Again, we are discussing !content! using one picture as an e%ample, #ut the same
parameters apply to any piece of art.
&rom* http*99arthistory.a#out.com9cs9reference9f9what:is:art.htm