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An introduction to art
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ClearlyExplained.com

What is art? Art is essentially the products of human creativity that does not need to be functional. When we think of art we are most often thinking of paintings or drawings. Art is about expressing a combination of an inner state or ability and the outside world or our own perceptions. Defining art is not always easy, for example simply presenting or arranging a series of objects can be art. Yet these objects may be natural or artificial. Lining up a row of cans into a shape would be art but it is not likely that the can or object is actually a work of art. whether something is art relies on interpretation and aesthetics (whether is it pleasing to the senses) How much art can communicate can also be important in a definition. Guiding of a process that is natural could be considered art.

A famous picture by M.C Escher (1898-1972) highlights how art can be used to present unusual combinations of lines to produce a paradox. (or impossible situation)

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Why is art important? Art is critically important to the human condition. It is often a kind of release and a way of relaxing. Sometimes it is the creation of artistic objects and sometimes it is about the appreciation of art, observing art or commenting on it. Art can have a commercial value. Just consider the large amounts of money spent on works of art. Art often has value for it's uniqueness, or popularity. Famous works of art can be worth millions of dollars and can be be auctioned. An original photo of a bee on a flower The same photo but with a mathematical swirl added. Which of these images could be truely art? One is a recording of light, the other is modified. image: R.Conan-Davies

Art has a technological aspect. For example art has inspired the development of tools and techniques for the creation of art objects. A classic example include cameras for photographic art and musical instruments for musical arts.  Art has an influence on technology itself. For example the design of things that are more practical such as a tool can be inspired by particular styles of art. Art in science, Science as a field of study often requires a certain level of creativity and randomness in order for it to progress. Art can sometimes influence science and science can influence art. Art in nature To perceive art in natural objects requires a human mind to perceive it. Whether nature can be art in a truly human sense is not clear. An expression like " The art of nature " really is refering to aspects of shape and form we see in naturally occuring objects and combining those forms by using our skills to reproduce a representation. The expression " The nature of art " is probably refering more to human nature and meaning of art and does not really mean nature in a literal sense. The natural swinging motion of a harmonograph traced out by a pen may look like art but it is actually the recording of a natural swinging motion.

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News about the arts There are often reports in the local press about art related things. Althouh sometimes these are sometimes refered to as "the arts" which typically includes local art, musical, or theatrical presentations. Try a search of Google news for Art to get the latest world wide news about art or artists.

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How are arts classified or oragnised? what are the types of arts? Visual arts - painting and photography, sculpting Musical arts - composing (conducting/interpreting music) and performing. Performing arts - music, dance, ballet, acting Literary arts - writing of novels or poetry. There are also some types of practical arts for example, graphic design, fashion design and indusrial design and even archictecture. These topics tend to apply art to everyday objects that we use.

Art is often classified in terms of the medium that it is represented by. So for example there are musical arts, theatrical arts, visual arts, literary arts and so on. The particular art is can be further classified into eras of time or particular styles associated with those times. How is art done? The starting point of any arts is probably the human experience. How we each individually experience the things that occur to us is probably the main starting point. There are probably two or three main influences: our experiences with nature, the environment , our physical selves and our interactions with others. Art is typically constructed or created by special tools that can range from traditional paint and brush to computer paint boxes.

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What is History of art? The history of art probably goes back to when we first started to innovate our creation of tools. There was a time that humans created the same design of stone tool for close to a million years and then there was a point that there was a variation. This probably sparked to the point at which our creativity, or inner artist started to develop. Traditionally the history of art is really about how art developed over periods of time during human development. For example ancient Greek art, Egyptian art, Roman art, Renaissance art and so on. Art Movements for example were important as responses to changes in social experiences of a civilisation or society. Are you looking for information on a specific art movement? send in an email requesting it

Cave paintings called "Fresque de la grotte de Lascaux" (France): Wikipedia Greek vase showing Zeus attacking Typhon, a monster. University of Texas

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The Future of art Art in the future is like to still remain influenced by our surroundings but also technology, new materials and discoveries will influence the forms of art into the future. Many forms of art tend to be variations on familiar themes. Perhaps in the future there may be more works of art at very small scales such as individual atoms or nanotechnology art. Or works of art on very large scales such as works of art in space, arranging asteroids in particular orbits.

A more immediate future aspect of art is the use of computers and associated digital mediums. The processing power of computers allows art to be processed in a virtually infinite set of variations. This can also be combined with real time rendering of music with images.

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