What makes art "art"?

[elmZ]

Had a conversation with someone while playing a game that I thought was worth sharing. 

So we got on the topic of art and why art is art. Well, I guess a lot of people these days have put boxes on art. Things deemed "too traditional" or "racist" or "sexist" have been attacked. I feel like art is only art when there is a freedom of expression. Once you start throwing labels around, it no longer is art but a label of one's taste or personalty. The guy I was talking with said that he feels like art is dying and he once thought it was down to technology but it turns out, it is down to people. Instead of looking at a painting, a sculpture, ect and allowing yourself to feel something for you, people are looking at things and trying to figure out what kind of person the artist is and what they should be labeled as. 

Not sure when this all happened but I thought it was an interesting topic. 

So what to you is "art"?

[shawn]

Art is anything that you define as art. To me, it is like beauty. While we can all agree that there is a general appeal to whether something is beautiful or not, we all have our own taste. Someone or something I may find appealing or attractive/beautiful may not be the case to someone else. 

[NicNak]

4 minutes ago, shawn said:

Art is anything that you define as art. To me, it is like beauty. While we can all agree that there is a general appeal to whether something is beautiful or not, we all have our own taste. Someone or something I may find appealing or attractive/beautiful may not be the case to someone else. 

I agree with this I think. I don't really put much thought into it but anything that is created by man or nature can be art. I have seen some rock formations that looked absolutely stunning. 

[Qu3ster]

I think there is a fine line for art these days. Some people can and often do call very evil things "art" and get away with it. There should be some kind of limits. Maybe that is just me.