What is Art?

To me, art is the creation of beautiful things. That beauty does not necessarily refer to visual beauty, it could refer to the beauty of a sound, emotion, meaning, event, belief, motion, or idea. Therefore art can be a painting, song, concept, or simple action,, as long as it is done in the earnest attempt to create a beautiful thing.

The problem then is: What is beautiful? This is difficult, for while there a standard aesthetic rules of composition, there are many opinions as to what subject matter is beautiful, and what portrayal of it is beautiful. There may not be a set rule for this.

Therefore, a rule of thumb for defining good art is how well it communicates its subject matter, regardless of whether that subject is good or not. If the art does what it sets out to do, or more importantly, if it appears as though it has done what set it out to do, then it is likely a good work of art.

A bad work of art is one that is not visually aesthetic, nor carries a beautiful meaning, nor emotion, idea, concept, or anything. A bad work of art is one that cannot be important to any viewer because it was not important to its creator.