There has never been uniform agreement on the definition of art. From inception, artists have had conflicting opinions on the subject. I asked instructors at The Seattle Academy of Fine Art to share their definitions of visual art and offer two of these that resonated with me.
“A form that makes visible (tangible) something of the human condition which would otherwise remain invisible (intangible).”
‘”Work that is an artist’s vision, geared first to the artist’s personal insight, then extended for public viewing. A self expression unique to the individual creating it.”
A fallacy that permeates the minds of many is that they are not artists because they cannot draw. First of all, this is an entirely limiting view of the visual arts and secondly, the ability to faithfully reproduce an object is in fact a disadvantage in creating art. van Gogh encourages us with this:
"If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced".
The release from life within the boundaries of time and space is a gift of transcendence that one gives to oneself in pursuing the practice of art making. In this adventure, all creative visual expressions constitute art. Every production is unique to the individual, be it aesthetic placement of flowers in a vase, photographic capture of an unusual formation in the natural world, shaping a piece of pottery, or brushing on color to develop a painting. It is this unique individual expression that absorbs and encompasses one in the process of artistic creation that forms a work of art.
“A form that makes visible (tangible) something of the human condition which would otherwise remain invisible (intangible).”
‘”Work that is an artist’s vision, geared first to the artist’s personal insight, then extended for public viewing. A self expression unique to the individual creating it.”
A fallacy that permeates the minds of many is that they are not artists because they cannot draw. First of all, this is an entirely limiting view of the visual arts and secondly, the ability to faithfully reproduce an object is in fact a disadvantage in creating art. van Gogh encourages us with this:
"If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced".
The release from life within the boundaries of time and space is a gift of transcendence that one gives to oneself in pursuing the practice of art making. In this adventure, all creative visual expressions constitute art. Every production is unique to the individual, be it aesthetic placement of flowers in a vase, photographic capture of an unusual formation in the natural world, shaping a piece of pottery, or brushing on color to develop a painting. It is this unique individual expression that absorbs and encompasses one in the process of artistic creation that forms a work of art.
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