What Is Art?

Webster's Dictionary defines art as;

  "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects"

For me to answer the question, What is Art? I first wanted to define some of the power words in the definition. Words like conscious, and aesthetic. After analyzing the words definitions I came up with what I feel that art is. I first started with the word conscious. The Webster's Dictionary defines conscious as:

"perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation"

Consciousness is a a matter of controlled thoughts, but in the definition it says that the conscious use of skill and imagination is normally dedicated to the production of aesthetic objects. Websters dictionary defines aesthetics as:

"appreciative of, responsive to, or zealous about the beautiful; also : responsive to or appreciative of what is pleasurable to the senses"

 After reading this definition I was brought back to a question proposed in class;

"can something like a paintbrush be art?"

Originally my answer to this question was no, I did not understand that something that had such a practical use could be art.However, after studying the definition of art, my answer to this question has completely reversed. I now can tell you that I believe that a paintbrush is art.The reason being, because I believe that the creator of the paintbrush had a conscious thought of using his skills and imagination in the making of the paintbrush. The paintbrush has many uses, one being to create beautiful pieces of art, and another of being of piece of art itself. In my eyes I believe that the creator of the paintbrush both made the paintbrush aesthetically pleasing and useful.

In David Hume's Essays, Moral and Political, 1742, he says:

"Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."

How true this is with art. The beauty to the art piece is in the eyes of the creator. I believe that even art that I may consider ugly, was created (with the intention of  the creator) as beautiful. This can easily be compared to an ugly baby. As the outside person you see the baby as ugly, but if you were to ask the mother or the father of the child. They would assure you that the baby that you see as ugly is one of the most beautiful creatures they have ever seen.  

Their is a quote by Karl Lagerfeld that states:

"I don't like standard beauty - there is no beauty without strangeness."

 This quote is a prime example of beauty to some (standard beauty) is not the same as to others( beauty with strangeness). Thus, people definitions of both beauty and art are,  exactly that, that definitions.

After researching the question, What is Art? I have finally come to my conclusion of what art is. Art is the intention of the artist to produce something using their talents and abilities that is magnificent in their eyes. Therefore, even things like chairs, plates, houses, cars, and refrigerators can be art. It all begins with the creators intent on the object of their creation.