After having completely nailed the definition of good design, I thought I might write something about the definition of art next. It’s not a subject that has kept me up at night, but it is an interesting question nevertheless, a question I have leasurely thought about over the course of my adult life. I get the impression that a lot of people, including artists, art critics and art lovers, find it difficult to provide an exact definition, which is why I think it’s an interesting question. What is art? Why is it hard to define what art is?

There’s something particularly nebulous about the question of when, exactly, something is or is not art.

There are paintings that give me the impression of being art, but on a closer look don’t reveal anything interesting. For instance, an exquisitely detailed landscape, showing great skill from the painter, could nevertheless appear empty. This is fascinating, because how it can show such things as rivers, mountains, grassy hills and still appear empty? These are the kind of paintings I wouldn’t consider to be art, although some would disagree, perhaps even scoff at my dismissal.

Definitions

Some would define art as something that was made with creativity. If you draw something well, it took a certain amount of creativity, and it is then art, period. That has an air of plausibility to it, but ultimately doesn’t hold up. I’ve made plenty of sketches and drawings that I don’t consider to be art. They’re just drawings. There’s more to art than just a series of pencil strokes put on paper without too much thought. Art seems to have something embedded into it, something that goes beyond the media by which it was made; a particular feeling, or train of thought.

Some would define art as any sort of self-expression, but there’s so much that would fall under that definition, it would make many, many things in our world count as art. Virtually everything would be art. Virtually everyone would be an artist! If everything is art, nothing is art, and so the word becomes meaningless.

Is art then creative self-expression? This definition seems to suffice. And you could leave it at that. But then what was that nebulous feeling from earlier about? It seems there’s a bit more to it than this.

If you ever happen to find something interesting, you may feel like sharing it with someone and talk about your thoughts on why it caught your interest. You’d be expressing yourself on something that has captivated you. This is the kind of expression people regularly do in their daily lives. That’s not art.
But if you take a different approach, and express that same thing through an act involving creativity, the expression has a chance to become empowered, and go beyond the ordinary kind of expression. So I arrive at my preferred definition:

Art is expression that transcends the ordinary.

Theory of Relativity

When does a creative work seem to go beyond the ordinary? This could explain that nebulous feeling from earlier. What is ordinary creative expression could appear as extraordinary to others, like some of my simple sketches. Or vice versa, like those works appearing so ordinary to the casual observer, that they comment they could have easily made it themselves. Thus it seems there is an aspect of relativity in the way we experience art.
A crude drawing on a wall would appear to us as an everyday sort of thing. Would you call that art? I wouldn’t. But what if that crude drawing was made over 30,000 years ago? That’s definitely not something you see everyday!

There are times when people are so impressed by a product’s design, they say it is not merely design, but art. I believe what they mean is that it rises so high above the typical sort of design you experience everyday, that it makes for an extraordinary experience.
That still doesn’t make it art, though. Design resolutely prioritizes the fulfillment of the user’s needs and wishes. It is this resolution that compels the creative work to shrug off the creator’s voice, gaining independence as a result. That doesn’t happen with art. Extraordinary design is design after all.

There are also times when people seem unanimous in their judgment that a particular work is a great work of art—a masterpiece—the immense creative energy involved combusting like rocket fuel, propelling it to a place few works ever reach.

Great works of art can have an almost surreal, dream-like quality. Indeed, art can be memorable, while the unthinking expression we do everyday is forgettable.

It’s good to express yourself. Even better to express yourself with a creation that will be remembered long after you’re gone.