Friday, June 27, 2008

What is Art?,...and a prediction comes up short.


The following is from an article I wrote on June 30, 2003, and was published on website ArtsJournal.com. as "New Definition of Art". The reason I'm repeating the article now, is because June 30,2008 is coming up pretty soon, and my prediction expires on that day. The original article goes something like this:
"As an artist and former Art History instructor, I would have gladly, five years ago, passed on the following definition, which I received from one of my former mentors and friend, then
Professor of Anthropology, Warren L. D'Azevedo:
Art: Based on aesthetics, the act of original creation, by manipulating a medium of public objects or events that serve as deliberately organized sets of conditions, having a definite beginning and end, for an experience in a qualitative mode.
However, I now predict that within the next five years, (June 30, 2008), all major university-level required texts whose title falls into the category of "History Of Art", will, and
certainly should be titled: "History Of Aesthetic Experiences", as none of today's art scholars or writers appear, understandably, capable of defining what presently passes for as...Art."