Why call it "Art?"
Anjie at the Alte Pinokothek in Munich.
This question came up on the discussion board that is part of the NW Arts Ministry. We're kicking around the definition of art and it struck me that anytime I have this discussion with a class or a group of friends, it centers around the desire to call something "art." Is this collage "art?" Is this movie "art?" Is a piece of bubblegum left on a platter "art" if someone thinks it is?
These questions led me to wonder: why do we care if we can call a thing "art" or not? Does its inherent value rise if I can call it art? Does it carry an instant sort of credibility or seriousness if I can call my creative effort art? If I am an "artist", is that a descriptor of a kind of activity I engage in, or am I co-opting a title that says something about my worth before the result of my effort has been evaluated. (My plays may suck, but I'm an "artist.")
I'm not sure about this, but what comes to mind is this: "intentional creation." We are makers, icons of God's image, makers of order from chaos in the stream of His making. The word "art" has more connections historically with the idea of work and utility than it does with "beauty" as in "fine art." And to call a thing "art" is to describe a process, a result, and an experience (by an audience, a receiver) of that result.
Our desire to call a thing art, perhaps, starts with our encounter with great art that ushers us into the presence of experiences we usually associate with beauty, truth, goodness, and even God. The great paintings in the museums of the world, the astonishing pieces of architecture as Anjie and I just encountered in Germany, the symphonies and rock anthems that define generations--these encounters with art demonstrate to us that "intentional creation" can move and lift and stretch our spirits in ways that are hardly describable. We recognize a deep worth in these experiences, as well as in the objects and events that bring them to us.
So do we call all manner of things art in order to connect them to this kind of greatness, hoping that naming it thus will somehow bring a vestige of what has soared in us before back to us again? I don't really know the answer, but for some reason, it's important to me to try and distinguish some parameters for what should be called art and what shouldn't.
But really...does it matter?
The map is not the territory...
9:33:01 AM 
