Context: Why Define Art?

I have a friend who cannot tell green from red. Is there any point to defining the two? Only insofar as it is useful. For him it doesn't really matter; he can live his life perfectly well without the distinction. But when he comes to a streetlight he had better know the difference or he might die, so then it becomes crucial to know the definition. His will of course be different from mine. For each of us there are two reasons for the definition; 1) to negotiate our own reality and 2) to be able to talk with others about it.  Most of us will never need the definition clarified, but for artists and art lovers it's pretty important to know what it is we are experiencing.

Regardless, whether or not we understand it creativity is crucial to human survival.

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Explaining the Relational Definition

•It is convenient to use 'art' to refer to an object or performance which serves as a conveyor, but true art only resides in the experience of the viewer.

•When it comes to apprehending art there are no experts, no absolutes. One person's genuine experience is equal to another's (though education helps with establishing context and vocabulary.)

•The test of the definition is that it must apply equally to both the art we love and that we which we don't.

Isn't ART subjective?

Yes, art is like sex! It is a personal relational experience and only makes sense in that context. Each of us has our own experience that is subjective and forms the subjective sense of the meaning of the word. But even though you have a different experience of sex than I do, still we can reach a basic understanding that when one of us says the word, the other knows what that means- not specifically, but generally. This is the objective meaning. This is the truth of the meaning of all words; they are basically metaphors for a greater truth. Some definitions are easier to agree on, like “centimeter”, others, like “soul” or “art”, not so much. We do the best we can.

Isn't EVERYTHING art?

We can call many things by the name of "art"; beauty, love, ideas, relationships, journaling, prayer, etc. But to me, distinguishing between those concepts is like distinguishing between various colors– not necessary by any means but it makes life richer.  And the more one works with slight shades of color the more useful such distinctions become.  To say something is not art doesn't diminish its value since it can be valuable as something else.  One thing it does is help me to recognize bullshit that is dressed as "art".

This is why the following technique helps me to frame the conversation:

MY definition and YOUR definition.

If you feel that your scribbling is really ART, how would you feel if someone else says their jogging is ART and invites you to come watch? (Our tendency is to defend ours and repel the other guy's.) If you switch perspectives and the definition still holds, it's probably a good definition!

Art is a verb not a noun. Art is a RELATIONSHIP!

This is one reason why it is so powerful– we can look at a 40,000-year-old cave painting by a person who is so strange they might even be another species and yet feel as close to them as if we were feeling what they felt.  That sense of closeness is really an intimate exchange between your soul and that of a strange creature 40,000 years distant. No structures last that long. Anything else that old feels vanishingly distant. Yet here we can even feel the other's experience! This is art!