What is Art?
(baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more… never mind)
Legit question, though — What is art? If someone has an art website, what should they post on it? Interestingly, it’s a slippery slope…
✔︎ Original artwork – Of course. Digital or physical, any artwork created by the poster is acceptable to post.
~ Photos – Generally, but it depends on what the photo is of:
- ✔︎ Nature – Yes. What’s artsy is — seeing something attractive in nature, framing the image, and capturing it well. It’s not as if you’re taking credit for what nature produced.
- ✔︎ Architecture – Yes. Similar to nature. Again, you’re not taking credit for the building, etc.
- ✘ Someone Else’s Artwork – No, or maybe… Are you artsy if you look at 100 works of art, find 5 that are amazing, and share those 5? Isn’t it sort of like finding something beautiful in nature…? This is the grouping that troubles me. If I share someone else’s art that resonates with me, then it says something about me. It seems kind of OK — as long as I don’t take credit for the item itself. In a way, it’s like sharing architecture — someone else made it, but I think it’s really nice…
Anyway, I’ll keep posting stuff — and may better solidify the line around what is/isn’t proper to post.
NEW QUESTION — What about being inspired by someone else’s art?
- If I did my own version of the Mona Lisa, that would probably be OK because it’s a generally-recognized piece of artwork.
- But what if I did my own version of an unknown piece of art? Seems a little less OK if no one knows the original — unless maybe I link to the original. (I have a lot of inspirational artwork that I’ve bookmarked.)
- What if I copy/pasted the Mona Lisa and briefly changed something minor about it? (Today’s modern digital tools easily allow copy/paste/tweak.) Seems less OK, because my contribution/addition may not add meaningful artistic value. Almost as if there is a minimum number of hours you need to invest to call it ‘your artwork’…?