What is art?
Before we can move forward and discuss the possibility of cyborg art, we have to decide what art is? This is really difficult because not all people are in agreement of what constitutes art? For example, you may not think that the Soft Revolvers video that you saw on the 'Millennials' page is art. You may argue that it is simply noise attached to spinning disks. However, that may not be everyone's experience. Given that generationally, culturally and individually art can be described in numerous ways, how can we all agree with what art means? One way would be to look at multiple definitions from artists and see if there is a similar pattern to their responses.
In the Huffington Post article, Art Is, 20 artists state their definition of art:
Notice that the above definitions do not really talk about the end result of the artistic work. The artists do not seem to be concerned with what product or artifact is being produced. Instead, they either describe emotion, process or a social condition. The quote that seems to capture the essence of this idea is, "Art is not a thing; it is a way."
We will use this definition of art for the remainder of this case study.
Before we can move forward and discuss the possibility of cyborg art, we have to decide what art is? This is really difficult because not all people are in agreement of what constitutes art? For example, you may not think that the Soft Revolvers video that you saw on the 'Millennials' page is art. You may argue that it is simply noise attached to spinning disks. However, that may not be everyone's experience. Given that generationally, culturally and individually art can be described in numerous ways, how can we all agree with what art means? One way would be to look at multiple definitions from artists and see if there is a similar pattern to their responses.
In the Huffington Post article, Art Is, 20 artists state their definition of art:
- "Art is either plagiarism or revolution." Paul Gauguin, painter
- "Art is a jealous mistress, and, if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture, or philosophy, he makes a bad husband, and an ill provider." Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist and poet
- "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." Twyla Tharp, choreographer
- "Art is a kind of illness." Giacomo Puccini, composer
- "Art is meant to disturb. Science reassures."Georges Braque, painter
- "Art is not a thing; it is a way." Elbert Hubbard, artist
- "Art is long, and time is fleeting." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
- "Art is like soup. There will be some vegetables you don't like but as long as you get some soup down you it doesn't matter." George Wyllie, "sculptor"
- "Art is the signature of civilizations." Jean Sibelius, composer
- "Art is vice. You don't marry it legitimately. You rape it." Edgar Degas, painter and sculptor
- "Art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography." Federico Fellini, director
- "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand." Pablo Picasso
- "Art is what you can get away with." Andy Warhol
- "Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it." Robert Motherwell, artist
- "Art is childish and childlike." Damien Hirst, artist
- "Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."Leonardo da Vinci
- "Art is a bang/blast." Tarō Okamoto, abstract artist
- "Art is art. Everything else is everything else."Ad Reinhardt, artist
- "Art does not reproduce what is visible; it makes things visible." Paul Klee, artist
- "Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the deification of existence." Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher
Notice that the above definitions do not really talk about the end result of the artistic work. The artists do not seem to be concerned with what product or artifact is being produced. Instead, they either describe emotion, process or a social condition. The quote that seems to capture the essence of this idea is, "Art is not a thing; it is a way."
We will use this definition of art for the remainder of this case study.