There is a semi-interesting discussion group on artreview.com called What is Art? Whenever I am logged into artreview.com, I watch as people are almost constantly chiming on this topic. The question itself seems absurd to me, but then I tend to be rather cynical when it comes to the use of the term. Where are the days when art simply referred to the class in school where we got to do things with our hands and make a mess. Unfortunately, the term art is so overused that its come to be almost meaningless, yet we all still use it. If nothing else, the term art has become a value signifier. That is, when we want to distinguish an object that we prefer or find more interesting or think is in some way more refined, we say that “that is piece of art,” or “that’s art and that’s crap” or we call it “the art of war” or “the art of management.” On top of that in our increasingly highly specialized society, everyone who has mastered a skill (ok, maybe not everyone) wants to be an artist.

Anyway, the other day I was feeling curious (or bored) so I decided to take a look and see what people were saying. The few that I read talked about spirituality and truth and beauty. Feeling a bit mischievous I decided to post to the group and see what happens. The following is what I posted and naturally it ruffled a few feathers. Let’s start up the conversation fresh…

Art is a commodity that is bought and sold with currency, either monetary or some other cultural currency. It is traded at auctions, sold in stores, bartered at trade shows (aka art fairs), paid for with admission tickets, commissioned by individuals and institutions, funded with grant monies, written about in glossy magazines and history books. Creation, spirituality, concept, truth, while important are different categories.