My favourite definition of art

Ask around among the art crowd and I bet you most will say that art cannot be defined. There’s even famous art trying to explore what art is, that is highly debated if it should be called art of not.

Art is one of those topics where we say you’ll know it when you see it. I think we fall back on that parental get-out-of-jail-free card because it’s hard to define. Hard to even think about. Harder still to nail down with words.

I think this is the case because it’s one of these topics where we need to zoom out, or zoom in, to really understand what it is. But I think this definition nails it:

Artists create meaning where there is none.

That is what art is. Uncovering, or creating, meaning.

Art can make you feel, or think, something new. Art has no specific form, or shape, but it can create a sense of wonder, or dread, or even anger, in the viewer.

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Which means that art creates meaning, for you, the beholder. And I think that is a beautiful, dare I say artful, definition.

I learned this definition from Bret Hall who in turn learned it from David Deutsch.