The Nature of Art
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The question of what constitutes art appears to be a difficult one. There are so many different styles and media that are classified as art today that it is nearly impossible to find a common element amongst all of them. And without any such a common element, how are we to be able to provide a definition for what is art and what is not? This only appears to be a problem if we continue to focus on the artistic objects themselves. Once we shift to the definition of artist rather than art, we have an easier task, as at least a somewhat easier task. If we define art as those products that artists make, and artists as those individuals who either call themselves artists or are designated as artists by other members of society, then we have a relatively workable definition of art - one that is sufficiently broad to encompass a work like the Mona Lisa as well as other types of enterprises that lie more on the borders of what is commonly considered to be the artistic, such as graffiti.But why should we focus on the artist (as the producer of artworks) and not the work itself? As Hebdige (as well as sociologist of art Howard Becker) argues, we should be more concerned with the definition of artist than art because art does not exist independently of the artist. What is considered art in any given time and place is the result of social consensus, of cultural norm, and that consensus and those norms tend to focus not so much on the product itself, or at least never on the product itse
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Approximate Word count = 818
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page)
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