Tuesday, June 16, 2009


Art is the process or result of purposely arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a varied range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The sense of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.

The definition and evaluation of art has become particularly problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby visual quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is reliant on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans.

An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack of its creator, regardless of its clear purpose. Traditionally, the word art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This formation changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science”. Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.

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