NAME: AMMAR HUSSAIN

ID: 11462
SUBJECT: CRITICAL THINKING / PHILOSOPHY (012001312)-SUN 15:30
18:30
Topic: Aesthetics

Question: How do you define art? Who determines the value of art, explain?
Answer: Art is something we do, a verb. Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions,
intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we
experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality. It is the communication of
intimate concepts that cannot be faithfully portrayed by words alone. And because words alone
are not enough, we must find some other vehicle to carry our intent. But the content that we
instill on or in our chosen media is not in itself the art. Art is to be found in how the media is
used, the way in which the content is expressed.
Now a theme in aesthetics, the study of art, is the claim that there is
a detachment or distance between works of art and the flow of everyday life. Thus, works of
art rise like islands from a current of more pragmatic concerns. When you step out of a river
and onto an island, you’ve reached your destination. Similarly, the aesthetic attitude requires
you to treat artistic experience as an end-in-itself: art asks us to arrive empty of preconceptions
and attend to the way in which we experience the work of art. And although a person can have
an ‘aesthetic experience’ of a natural scene, flavor or texture, art is different in that it
is produced. Therefore, art is the intentional communication of an experience as an end-in-
itself. The content of that experience in its cultural context may determine whether the artwork
is popular or ridiculed, significant or trivial, but it is art either way
Source: https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/What_is_Art_and_or_What_is_Beauty