What is Art?

Art is such an ambiguous word.  It has different meanings to different people. Because of its ambiguity, it is impossible to have one definition. 

According to dictionary.com, art has five different definitions; the first definition given is “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”  There are parts of this definition I agree with yet some I disagree with.  I agree with the first part that mentions art as the “quality, production, expression or realm.”  I believe that when an artist is working on something, they are expressing themselves, or a point of view; they are producing something based off of their desire to express a perception.  On the other hand, I do not agree with the whole rest of the definition.  In my opinion, art doesn’t have to be based off of aesthetic principles. Everyone has their own standards of beauty based on a personal or cultural level.  Let’s say I go to a museum, and see a picture of a leaf on the wall, I stare at this picture and say, “This is so ugly.”  But does that mean it isn’t art?  No.  Just because this leaf is ugly to me doesn’t mean that someone else will have the same opinion.  This picture of a leaf isn’t appealing to me especially because I see leaves every day.  However, this leaf may be appealing to someone else who is intrigued by it and doesn’t see leaves on a daily basis. Most importantly, this leaf must be significant to the artist or else that artist wouldn’t have created it. Although, it may be significant to the artist, it may not be significant to everyone else.  This definition fails to grasp what art actually is.  Instead, it sets expectations for art to be beautiful, appealing, and significant when in reality each opinion varies individually. 

What is my own definition of art?  Because I hold a broader view of art, my definition is short.  I believe that art is a form of expression created by someone.  This can be a choreographed dance, a sculpture, a company logo, a plate of food or even a picture of a leaf; either way, someone had to create it.  It doesn’t even need to be made from scratch.  It can be based off of something else such as a remix of a song written many years ago or a hair stylist’s version of a previously made hairstyle.  Many people narrow their perception of art down to traditional paintings, sculptures or music but art is so much broader than that.  I am very fascinated by the art of hairstyles just because it isn’t what people typically think of when they visualize art.  The link I posted below leads you to a website that has several examples of hairstyles.  As you can see on the website of hairstyles, there are so many various ways to go about art.  What is your definition of art?

http://www.hairstylesdesign.com/