Whether or not something is art is generally a matter of taste, and it depends on how one defines the term “art.” For example, some people might consider a picture of a pretty landscape to be art while others would call it “a piece of crap.” It also depends on what kind of art you’re referring to, which can vary widely. Some kinds of art are more accepted than others, such as classic paintings, and it’s much easier to get a piece of work taken seriously when working in an established style (although even that doesn’t guarantee that your art will be considered artistic). The less established styles, however, can sometimes be difficult for the average person to evaluate objectively, and it often requires special knowledge or training to determine whether a given piece of work is or isn’t art.
Art is often defined as an activity that involves the creation of works that are appealing to the senses. The works created may serve a variety of purposes, such as entertainment, education, or social interaction. Art is a broad category that encompasses various forms of visual expression, including painting, sculpture, drawing, and decorative arts, as well as performance art such as dance and theater.
The main difficulty with defining art is that it is an activity with many different functions, some of which conflict. For instance, a painting or sculpture that serves only to amuse the audience is not as valuable as one that communicates some message or idea to the viewer. Moreover, the functions that a work of art might perform in any particular culture may be entirely distinct from those in another.
Despite this complexity, philosophers have made some progress in defining art. For example, Arthur Danto developed a set of criteria for evaluating art that include the idea that it projects an attitude or point of view and that it has a unique aesthetic form, as opposed to merely being pleasing to the eye. This list of characteristics is a good starting point for any definition of art, although it should be noted that a work can be considered to be a work of art only if it meets all of these criteria.
In addition to these heuristics, it’s important to note that the concept of art is organic and changes its meaning over time. In the past, it referred to a craft that could be learned through practice and hard work, as well as to the specific symbolism of an era or movement. Since the emergence of modernism and individualism, however, it has come to mean that art is something original, something that no one else has ever done before.
In fact, there are many definitions of art floating around in the philosophical literature, but all are limited in some way. Some, such as Gaut’s cluster definition, are unable to capture the essence of what makes something art. Other approaches, such as a list-like definition, are criticized as lacking in extensional adequacy because they fail to provide any principles that explain why each item on the list is included or excluded.