What is "art"? Why do works which look like garbage or ordinary objects qualify as "art"?

Why should a canvas painted all one color, or a nail driven into a piece of wood, qualify as a museum piece? If that is "art," then isn't EVERYTHING art? Including fire hydrants, tampons, toothpicks, leftover food, unflushed toilets, and everything else in the world? Is an ordinary object "art" just because an "artist" has chosen to display it? Why do we accept works which require no talent as "art" simply because they have been held up for us to comtemplate?

What is "art"? Why do works which look like garbage or ordinary objects qualify as "art"?
Art is more than aethestics, it is also an intellectual pursuit. For the artists, art is a venue by which they express some perspective of the world. Art is an interactive endeavor--it cannot exist without people to look at it. And the goal of many, if not all modern artists, is to encourage you, the veiwer, to see the world in a new way. They want to change your perspective, interject a new point of view.





Some artists pursue the spirtual, and others, the mundane. But all artists create with the sole purpose of getting you to LOOK at it, to think about what you see, and come to some conclusion about what you see and how it relaties to your life.





As for the object art you so decry, museums accept them as art because the artist has chosen this object as something of significance--theres something about that object the artist wants you to think about. The artist wants you to see beyond the surface, beyond your first interpretation of that thing to see what else is within it--a hidden beauty? a reflection of the alienation in modern society? They want to alter your perception of the universe by presenting to you a thing you may never have given thought to before.





Modern art is not meant to be looked at, but also thought about. And the creative part, the artistic part, is presenting to you, the viewer, new things for you to think about.





And no, not everything is art. Everything has the POTENTIAL to be art, but the line between art and not-art lies in the mind of the artist. That line is in the intention of the creator to present to the veiwer a new thought, or a new perception. When the artist says "I have here a simple thing, but I see within it it something meaningful. I want to share it with you." It crosses that line and becomes Art.
Reply:i have no idea
Reply:there are people in the world who will like what they are told. these are the people who will buy something just to show off how much it cost or who made it. these are also the people who will like the things you mentioned. if that is what they want to like, let them. i would prefer something more but if they like it, they get it out of the way for people like me.
Reply:People see art in many different things. Just because you (and a large majority of people) may not see something as art, there are people that do see it that way. Many people don't consider rap a form of music, but there are people that do. The good thing to remember is that most "avant garde" types of art like you describe will not be around in 5, 10, 15 20 years and will not be placed in history of art books and such.
Reply:"What is art" is really too big a question to answer here. It may take a lifetime to understand entirely. There's a lot of crap out there people like to call art. I can't tell you which of it is and which isn't here. What I can tell you is to let go of your preconceived notions. It is possible for a fire hydrant to be art. It's not in the object itself, it's in the way it is used and how it's portrayed. I was brought up with the limited notion that art is a pretty picture of something. It was only well into my college years when I saw the beauty in the abstract. Lines, curves, forms, colors is where the beauty or art lies-- not necessarily in the subject matter. A work of art doesn't even need a "subject".








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Uhm... correction-- I "saw" the beauty in form and color as long as I can remember. I didn't realize it was art because I was told it wasn't. For most people, language tends to define art for them as they age-- oh-- it's got a frame around it and a vase of roses so it most be art.
Reply:just simple man. people art is recorgnised only if they are contraversial or if they are rich and famous. contravercial people become contraversial because they need to sell their art. and rich n famous people donot have time for art besides zero talent.
Reply:Art isn't an object. Art is an experience. Art is a communication of emotion between the artist and the audience. This can be done through music, through poetry or through an object. The object isn't the art though, the experience is.





If ordinary everyday things give you an emotional experience then I suppose you could say that they are art but again its not the things but your reaction to them that is important. Andy Warhol was famous for this kind of 'pop' art but it was really taking everyday things and getting a reaction out of people.





If garbage makes you react emotionally and if this was the intent of the artist then it is indeed art and good art. Art can include any emotion, happy, sad, angry or violent. The worst sin in art is simply to be boring and produce no reaction at all.





I think Frank would agree.
Reply:Art is something that is created in order to get a desired response from an audience. Bilboard signs, magazine pictures, and yes even everyday objects can be considered art. The products we get were built from a model of something that someone spent time on.


People accept weird art like a one color painting/nail driven into wood because it makes them think I guess. Some art is made just to make people angry, and wonder why it was created. Maybe that certain piece could be a statement that there is nothing pretty left to look at in our society.
Reply:quite simply...equal rights. so many arguments for so very long have rendered everything and anything "art" if someone so chooses to call it so.
Reply:Art is in the eye of the beholder. You're right, everything can be art.
Reply:In my arts and humanities class a couple years ago our teacher said art was art because of the emotion and feeling of the artist while making the art, not necessarily the piece of art itself.
Reply:art is almomst everything around you with a deeo meaning with he feeling that makes you wonder!
Reply:it's difficult to answer.