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surrealAmerican

(11,872 posts)

8. "Beautiful" is the wrong word.

Reply to cthulu2016 (Original post)

Sat Sep 22, 2012, 07:35 PM

Sep 2012

Try replacing it with "meaningful" and you might have a good working definition. Either meaning or aesthetic merit needs to be the main purpose of the work for it to be art, otherwise, like your cake decorating or furniture, it would more properly be called "craft".

There's nothing inferior about craft as opposed to art; it just means that there is a function in addition to the aesthic appeal of the object. Art is not a value judgement, there is bad art.

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What is Art? [View all] cthulu2016 Sep 2012 OP

(for me) When I can say "Thou art art" BlueJazz Sep 2012 #1

This message was self-deleted by its author AnotherMcIntosh Sep 2012 #2

Not always sure about beauty myself, as it can have qualities that are quite other than patrice Sep 2012 #3

Beautiful? rrneck Sep 2012 #4

Well said, and I agree. Brickbat Sep 2012 #5

"intended to give a deeper insight into the human condition" = a BRILLIANT definition! THAT is the WinkyDink Sep 2012 #10

The definition hangs on the definition of beauty, of course. cthulu2016 Sep 2012 #15

Oscar Wilde had something to say about art in "The Pictue of Dorian Gray" Agnosticsherbet Sep 2012 #6

Is Dada art, then, or non-art? n/t porphyrian Sep 2012 #7

For reference... porphyrian Sep 2012 #11

"Beautiful" is the wrong word. surrealAmerican Sep 2012 #8

...and there is a museum for it... porphyrian Sep 2012 #9

Best definition of "Aesthetic" I ever heard: Opposite of "Anaesthetic". nolabear Sep 2012 #12

Art, like beauty, has always been defined by the eye of the beholder nt MrScorpio Sep 2012 #13

Personally, I think that "art" is whatever I decide it is... GReedDiamond Sep 2012 #14