This paper is a study of the relationship between the relatively recent scientific development of chaos theory and art. Chaos theory recognizes and attempts to analyze the points at which regularity becomes unpredictable, form turns into formlessness, Euclidean geometry yields to pandemonium. This apparent abandonment of established order also describes the dramatic changes that inspired impressionistic art and most of what are now termed modern arts - wild breaks with traditional approaches to the representation of human beings and nature, even to the point of choosing nontraditional subject matter or no apparent subject matter at all. Just as the chaos scientists upset the establishment by ignoring disciplinary boundaries and ways of examining a problem, so too did artists in the late l9th and early 20th century begin to throw out or question most of the accepted wisdom of their field. In addition, as chaos theory became more accepted and examined, it eventually deepened traditional science's understanding of established theories and achievements; in the same way, the apparent chaos of impressionism, cubism, abstract art, and other modern movements later enriched the entire study of art history, rather than bringing the wholesale destruction to the field that initial detractors had predicted.
Defining art continues to be an elusive and challenging prospect for writers in every discipline. The word itself derives from the Latin ars meaning skill, but scholars generally agree that skill is only the first requirement for creating a work of art. Art requires skill combined with a creative imagination which results in a product that inspires a satisfying emotional, aesthetic, and/or intellectual experience for its audience. Deciding whether a work truly meets this definition can be highly subjective; one viewer's work of art is sometimes another's painful waste of time.
In addition, the nature of art almost demands that artists cont...