What is art?

[Fenn]

This is a question I have been studying a lot lately. Naturally, there is no one correct answer to this question, since many people will include/exclude different mediums or elements from art.

How do you define art? What does art mean to you? For me it is a means of creative expression, and a way of breaking the barrier of reality. Each work of art is its own world, one limited only by the artist.

[Rio]

Art for me is anything that gives a strong impression to the viewer.

A very broad term but as it is, there are many types of art from dance, music, paintings, and so on so I feel that is the heart of what art is.

[Hayashida]

I would say the definition varies from person to person, but it would be whatever a person finds visually appealing which was made by another person.
For example, one person might find a car, like, oh I dunno, a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa a beautiful piece of art, whereas someone else, probably a knob-head wouldn't think so.

[butternut]

Not only visually appealing, but generally appealing to the person. Like a good piece of music could be art. basically the medium through which a person expresses something and that which creates an impact to the audience. or viewer.

[Celestial-Fox]

I find things that are visually unappealing to be artful, though. Like Picasso, most definitely not my cup of tea, but art nonetheless. I think what art is has to do with the process, intent, and execution of the piece, but I'm not exactly sure in what specific ways.

[Rubisko]

Sometimes I do stuff that's "visually appealing"; posters, webgraphics, folders... but I would never claim them to be art. I also don't call anything I've drawn or created as art. I refer to them simply as "drawing", "painting", "sculpture"...
So it's really the PROCESS of creation that is art. Think about it, it's easy to copy stuff, for example playing music that someone else made the tunes for, as long as you know the craft. But it's the process of creating something artistic that defines a person as an artist. (I know, copying is also a process of creation, but you should get my point :P)

[Fenn]

Yeah, this is exactly what I had hoped to get. It's interesting; some people related it more to the emotions and expression others to the process, and others to the product.

[Rio]

Maybe it's all three?

[Fenn]

Totally could be. Wonder if we could merge all three into an inclusive definition...

[butternut]

So, art is the process of expressing one's thoughts or mind, producing an awesome piece of work.
I'm not sure it conveys all the meaning, but just an effort..