One of the ways to define art is by the visual, creative outlet through which people fabricate their perspective of the world. There are many different views that people have about life and imagination, so there are also several different ways that people can express their culture and environment. My philosophy is that art defines how cultures are perceived. Without art, it would be hard to distinguish between different people groups, because art makes up the environment around us. Art is beautiful and it helps people feel things. Art is in the Earth and the skies, the mountains and the oceans, the fields, jungles, rainforests, deserts, and even in the frozen tundra. God created the whole world as a giant rotating art piece, and humans followed suit, creating their own forms of arts from the greatest example.
I think one of the characteristics that differentiates art from other kinds of activities is the fact that there is no set of rules for what you can do to produce it. In sports there are rules and regulations you must follow in order to play the game, or participate in a formalized manner. For shopping, you have societal norms that everyone follows because that’s how we’ve always done things. You pick out your items and pay for them. The rule, the law, is that you must purchase the item before you can take it with you. There’s a certain way everything is done. In academics, there is usually minimal creative expression with assignments. You are given guidelines for homework, tests, and quizzes. There are certain things you must do, assignments you must turn in, an official set of societal norms. In art, there are different forms that can be used, but people can do whatever they want and call it art. You can transform tangible materials, flow words together in a way that has never been done, or showcase your art in different dimensions. It can come across as a picture, a video, a sculpture, a song, a play, or a poem.
Personally, sometimes art is useless to me. Like when I see something in a museum, I wonder how someone actually qualifies something as an art piece. You can’t just pour candy on the ground and call it art. And it’s hard to make a living from just creating art. Art does play an integrative part with my faith through worship. I can worship God through singing alone, or in a group. Or I can play my violin as an act of worship, an art form to express my love for my creator. God is the ultimate artist, and we are made in his image to express our love to Him through art. Some of the activities I do that include the arts are water-coloring, drawing, hand-lettering, playing my violin, singing, and acting on stage in theatre. The arts reveal the secrets behind society, what people are really thinking and feeling. They also reveal peoples dreams, ideals, values, emotions, and imaginations. Art is its own separate entity. It doesn’t really have a “right” definition, because of the different views of beauty that every person has.
