What is art?

Sure, it's a loaded question, but I was ruminating on this subject last night as I drifted off to sleep, and had some thoughts the matter.  What is art? I would contend that art is undefinable, and therefore any dictionary or textbook definition of art is invalid.  Art simply is.  Art isn't defined by a concrete set of parameters, but rather created through perspective and context.

Take the most utilitarian item, say, a hammer.  If one were to take a close-up photograph of it, so that all one sees is a portion of the hammer, perhaps just the wood grain on the handle, the perspective has been changed; the hammer is seen in a different light, so to speak.  Its texture is emphasized, its contours, its surfaces' reflections of light.

Now imagine a hammer in a situation in which it is not performing its typical function; rather than forcing a nail into a piece of wood, it is dangling from the ceiling of an art gallery by a length of fishing line.  This change in context causes one to look at the hammer not as a "hammering tool", but as an object unto itself.  It can be appreciated for other reasons than its ability to "hammer": the smooth, reflective metal of the head, the wood grain patterns in the handle, and so forth.

Of course, "art is in the eye of the beholder"; one could just as easily argue that a hammer is a hammer is a hammer.  However, just because one individual doesn't agree on whether or not something qualifies as "art" does not mean it is not art.  From an existential viewpoint, the meaning of an object is ascribed by the individual, not by some universal standard or consensus of opinion.

Therefore, when I say I am "an artist", and that my photographs are "art", it is true, and I am defining myself in a truthful manner, if only in the realm of my experience. (continue reading &aquo;)