What is art? (Was: Re: Namecalling.. )

[P3D Peter Davis <pdavis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In my lifetime, I've frequently pondered the question "What is art?"
I've studied acting, playwriting, painting, drawing, and many other
activities which are generally classified as "art."  I've tried very
hard to see Clifford Davis's viewpoint, because I believe there is a
lot of room for debate in this question, and the definition of the
word "art" can certainly be stretched very far in many directions.

To offer a straw horse definition: Art is the manipulation of
experience to make a statement.  This includes the creation of
artworks such as plays, paintings, etc., but it also could include a
virtual reality experience, or even a conversation.  If I have a
conversation with a friend on a street corner, that's considered
pedestrian.  Yet the same conversation, captured in a play and set on
the stage, might be deemed art.  So very often, our perceptions of
what is and isn't art are determined by context.

I could even stretch so far as to say that Mr. Davis's vomitting on a
piece of black construction paper might be art, although it is not
something I would choose to subject myself to.

However, this is still a long way from saying everything is art.
Basically, our language is "pre-emptive" ... we define things by also
defining what they are not.  By definition, a rock is not a pool of
water, or a bird, or a toaster oven.  In order for names to have any
meaning, they must delineate some class or subset of all things, and
(IMPORTANT POINT) distinguish them from other things not in that class
or subset.  You could argue that "life" is anything, because the whole
universe is full of moving particles, fields, waves, etc.  But all you
would accomplish would be to rob the word "life" of any meaning at
all.

So, I agree that many people do have an elitist attitude about art.
It is not confined to diligent practitioners toiling away in their
studios.  However, it is not "everything" either.  I believe art does
require an element of intention.  Even if the results include
accidental or unpredictable effects, the intention and the selection
and allowance for those effects are what makes it art.

Anyway, that's my 45 cents, allowing for inflation.

-pd

--------
Peter Davis		       "Education is not the		 617/873-4145
BBN Educational Technologies	filling of a pail, but	    FAX: 617/873-2455
70 Fawcett Street		the lighting of a fire."       pdavis@xxxxxxx
Cambridge, MA 02138			-- W. B. Yeats

	URL:  http://copernicus.bbn.com/people/PDavis/


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