Art is a fundamental aspect of any society. Some say the purpose of art is to express beauty around the world. Others claim that the actual value of art comes from its ability to communicate the truth in ways that influence the viewers for the better. But what does art mean to you?
Art can be anything, including an expression, a painting, illustration, spoken or written word, performance, music, or dance. It can also mean a highly diverse range of human activities engaged in creating auditory, visual, or performed pieces that express the artist’s technical or imaginative skill.
Read on and learn what art means, why there’s controversy in art definitions, and factors to consider when defining art.
What Art Means
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While people have defined art in different ways throughout history, the modern definition is something created with skill and imagination, and that’s beautiful. Creativity plays an essential role in making a work of art. You can also define art as the product or process of arranging elements deliberately to appeal to emotions or senses.
However, the meaning of art is often specific to a particular culture and is shared among the members of the society depending on the cultural context. It is shaped by the techniques, materials, and forms it makes use of and ideas and feelings it creates in the viewers.
Other meanings of art include:
Art As an Imitation of Reality
Plato’s definition of art, according to Research Gate, is anything that replicates or imitates reality. Aristotle agreed on that notion, defining art as “mimesis” (the representation of aspects of the real-world, particularly human actions, in art and literature).
Art As Human Emotion
Sometimes beauty isn’t the ultimate goal of art. Instead, an artist might express something, so the audience is explicitly stimulated to create feelings, curiosity, religious faith, memories, thoughts, creativity, or identification with a group. Hence, art will infect you with your emotions or be infected by others’ emotions.
For instance, the performance art movement doesn’t usually aim to please its audience but instead evokes reactions, feelings, questions, or conversations. In such scenarios, aesthetics might be an irrelevant measure of beautiful art.
Art As a Means to Connect with Your Inner Self
Art can make you connect with your inner self. You can look within and listen to yourself and realize who you are, what you care about, and what you stand for. It can connect you to your feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and outer experiences and realities.
Besides, art introduces you to a whole new set of ideas and experiences that you may have never witnessed before. You can reach a deeper understanding of your emotions and highlight questions you never knew you even had. These experiences enable you to look within yourself since people tend to make emotional choices that they are passionate about.
Art As an Ingredient to Empower the Hearts of People
When an activist shows images of children suffering from oppression or poverty, the work pulls the heartstrings of society’s most influential and elite to make changes. Similarly, when a photographer publishes pictures of war-torn areas, it can catch the audience’s attention, whose hearts may reach out to those in need.
Moreover, art can touch people at their core and give them the power to make real-life changes. It can also instill courage and give back hope in societies undergoing lots of hardships.
Recommended Reading: Abstract Art: How To Tell When it’s Good (or Bad)
Why Does the Meaning of Art Vary?
According to Wikipedia, art philosophers and historians have had long classificatory disagreements about art regarding whether a particular artwork or cultural art form should be classified as true art or not. That makes the definition of art subjective, open, and debatable. Today, the very notion of art continues to stir controversy and is open to several interpretations about what art is and what it’s not.
How Do You Examine Art?
You can examine art through the interaction of the elements and principles of art. The elements include form, texture, shape, space, value, color, and line, while principles of art are unity, movement, harmony, balance, variety, proportion, contrast, and pattern.
Different interactions between the principles and elements of art enable the artist to organize sensorially pleasing pieces while offering the viewers a framework from which to define, discuss, and analyze art.
What Are the Forms of Art?
Visual Arts: These are the oldest documented forms of art that include objects or images in fields like sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, and other visual media. Architecture can also be included as visual art. However, it entails the creation of objects that have practical use considerations, making it a blend of visual representation and decorative art.
Fine Arts: Historically, fine arts were intended to appeal to human intellect, although today, there are no boundaries. Fine art movements have responded to each other aesthetically and intellectually throughout the ages. Currently, it represents an exploration of the human condition and an effort to experience a deeper understanding of life.
Decorative or Aesthetics Art: Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy dealing with the taste, nature, and art creation and appreciation of beauty. It’s often central to any art exploration. For instance, Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel are recognized widely as beautiful pieces of art.
While many philosophers argue about what makes art beautiful, there’s a basic human instinct or internal appreciation for balance, harmony, and rhythm that can be defined as beauty. So, art can mean an interaction between color, line, texture, sound, motion, shape, and size that’s pleasing to the senses.
However, beauty in art can be challenging to define since it is typically subjective. That’s because there’s no set of values or aesthetic traits when it comes to visually identifying a piece of art. For example, a baroque painting might not share much with a contemporary performance piece or a child’s drawing pinned with pride on the refrigerator. But all can be considered art.
Communicative Art: Art can elicit powerful sentiments and tell relevant stories. It can then be defined as a form of communication and can mean what the artist intended it to be. For instance, films can be made to tell stories of a specific culture, or a song can be composed to boost people’s morale or inspire other people’s stories.
Another example is during the Victorian period in England when women made a name for themselves with classic artworks like Portia Wounding Her Thigh by Elisabetta Sirani. The painting told a story of how women were now willing to distance themselves from gender biases.
Therapeutic or Healing Art: You can define art as a form of therapy, in which it’s used as the primary communication mode. While it’s relatively a young discipline, art therapy focuses on the therapeutic benefits of art-making, using different theories and methods.
For example, studies have shown that art can be a healing way of helping patients with mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and PTSD by offering them positive energy. It can also give the healthcare workers and families the drive to regain their composure and remain calm.
Reflective Art: This is the kind of art that evokes emotions, whether sad or happy, exciting or disturbing. It makes you feel and think- the pieces make you question the message or interpretation of the artists as well as your feelings and learned parameters.
Reflective art opens minds and hearts, showing you what could be possible in the world. For instance, a painting can make you hopeful, or a performance moves you to tears.
Recommended Reading: The Beginner’s Guide To Conceptual Art: What’s The Big Deal?
Why Does Art Matter?
Art is genuinely a gift to the human experience that people crave. It gives meaning to lives and helps you understand the world. Besides, it enables you to understand emotions better, boosts self-awareness, and opens you up to new ideas and experiences.
Art also has the power to educate the masses about almost anything. It can present information and create awareness that can be absorbed by many quickly. Thus, you can gain knowledge when viewing a painting, sculpture, dance, photograph, play, or poem. And in a world where some people don’t have access to good education, art becomes an even greater equalizer of societies.
Art is usually used as a level playing field for expression and discourse. That’s because everyone can learn and appreciate art regardless of economic standing, social background, or political affiliations.
Moreover, art can make identities and cultures be given due recognition and appreciation. And in a world preoccupied with technology, it can be said that without art, histories, traditions, and cultures would be in danger of being forgotten.
Art accesses higher orders of thinking. Art can make you think about current ideas and inspire you to make yours. It can unlock the potentials of the human mind. Studies show that exposure to art can make a person think, see, hear, and act differently.
Finally, art can showcase the past or predict the future. Hence, it can play a critical role in helping fight against intolerance of various racism, cultures, and other forms of unjust societal segregation.
Art may mean many different things to many different people. The bottom line is that no matter what art means to you personally, your experience of art is true and meaningful. There is no right or wrong way to connect with art.
Recommended Reading: Are Actors Artists (Does Acting Count As Art)?
More From Artistry Found
- Are Talented Artists Born or Made? (The Truth!)
- The Purpose of Art: What You Need To Know
- Do Artists Have A Responsibility To Society? (The Truth)
- How Artists See The World (A Different Vision)
What is art? – The dictionary definition of art says that it is “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects” (Merriam-Webster)
But the thing about art is that it’s so diverse that there are as many ways to understand it as there are people. That’s why there are scholars who give their own special definition of the word, such the one penned by this famous Russian novelist, which goes:
“Art is the activity by which a person, having experienced an emotion, intentionally transmits it to others” – Leo Tolstoy
During his life, Tolstoy was known to write based on his life experiences, such as his most famous work, “War and Peace” that used much of his experience during the Crimean War.
And whether or not his definition of art is the best, the point is that people look at art based on how they have experienced it.
What is Art?
There are many common definitions of art. Few to quote:
Art is
- any creative work of a human being
- a form of expressing oneself
- resides in the quality of doing; the process is not magic
- an act of making something visually entertaining
- an activity that manifests the beauty (What is Beauty in Art?)
- the mastery, an ideal way of doing things
- not a thing — it is a way (Elbert Hubbard)
- the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known
- discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use (Frank Lloyd Wright)
Why is Art Important?
Probably, the best theory that I like all which best explains – Why is art important – is from Van Jones, subtly provides a great response to What is art?
Van Jones presented a graph that accurately represents the interaction between the four aspects of society and its different members.
Consequently, Vones depicts why is art important to our society?
The graph (below) represents our society.
Society is driven by the powerful elites, the dependent masses, government, cultural producers and artists
Van Jones Graph
On the left you have action, and on the right, ideas; elites are at the top, and the masses are below. There’s an inside act and an outside act.
On the inside, there’s big money: elites are spending millions of dollars to influence politicians and policymakers. The inside act has the power to influence policy creators.
On the outside, we at grassroots set our expectations and needs, so that the elected candidates pass laws that give us power. Masses reflect what society really wants (heart)
The left side, “action,” often means quantifiable policy changes. The right side, “ideas,” can be harder to see. We are not necessarily talking about concrete things here, but rather, a “headspace.”
Academic institutions and think tanks, which are not always involved in the immediate policy wins, are significant in creating a culture of thought
While the left side, “action”, continues to produce quantifiable policy changes and new laws, the right side “ïdeas”, can be hard to quantify its outcome. Although “head” talks theories and academics, it fails to produce any significant contribution to policymakers.
Artists come into the play here at this moment
Artists are represented here on the side of ideas, in the “heart space.”
Art is uniquely positioned to move people—inspiring us, inciting new questions and provoking curiosity, excitement, and outrage.
Artists can strengthen the will and push people to act. They do not think like policymakers or academics people.
Artists think from their heart – big, revolutionary, and visionary ideas.
This is why artists are able to move people to action, thus creates a significant cultural and political contributions.
This is what makes art powerful.
Impact of Art on Politics, Culture, and People
Art is very important in the society because it is an essential ingredient to empowering the hearts of people
When activists are showing images of children suffering from poverty or oppression in their campaigns, this is the art pulling the heartstrings of society’s elite and powerful to make changes.
Similarly, when photographers publish the photos of war-torn areas, it catches the attention of masses whose hearts reach out for those who need help.
When an artist creates great music and movies, it entertains people around the world. This is art, making a difference in society.
A very modern example of art in action is street art. When the famous Italian street artist Blu created the mural in Kreuzberg, it sparked a lot of strong, different reactions that were rooted deeply into the differences between East and West Berlin.
Who would have thought that a wall painting depicting two masked figures trying to unmask each other could illicit such strong reactions?
Now the issue behind this mural is a totally different matter to discuss. But whether or not the effect of the mural was good, it cannot be denied how a well-crafted piece of art can have a great impact on society.
When you see a Zen garden in Sydney or San Francisco, you know that it’s a practice that originated from China.
Likewise, when you see paper swans swarming a beautiful wedding ceremony, you know that this is origami, an art that came from Japan.
When you see films featuring Bollywood music and dancing, you know that it’s a movie from India. Art has the power to take cultural practices from where they are from and then transport and integrate them into different parts of the world without losing their identity.
There, these art forms can be used to entertain, create awareness, and even inspire foreigners to accept these cultures, no matter how strange or alien they may seem.
And that’s exactly what John Dewey implies in Art as an Experience:
“Barriers are dissolved; limiting prejudices melt away when we enter into the spirit of Negro or Polynesian Art. This insensible melting is far more efficacious than the change effected by reasoning, because it enters directly into attitude.”
This is especially important in our highly globalized world.
Art has played an important role in helping fight against intolerance of different cultures, racism, and other forms of unjust societal segregation.
With immigration becoming a growing trend, the world’s countries are expected to be more tolerant and accepting of those who enter their borders.
Art helps make that happen by making sure that identities and their cultures are given due recognition around the world.
Why is Art so Powerful?
Perhaps the simplest answer to this question is that art touches us emotionally.
Art is powerful because it can potentially influence our culture, politics, and even the economy. When we see a powerful work of art, you feel it touching deep within your core, giving us the power to make real-life changes.
In the words of Leo Tolstoy:
“The activity of art is based on the capacity of people to infect others with their own emotions and to be infected by the emotions of others. Strong emotions, weak emotions, important emotions or irrelevant emotions, good emotions or bad emotions – if they contaminate the reader, the spectator, or the listener – it attains the function of art.”
In sum, art can be considered powerful because of the following reasons, among others:
- It has the power to educate people about almost anything. It can create awareness and present information in a way that could be absorbed by many easily. In a world where there are those who don’t even have access to good education; art makes education an even greater equalizer of society.
- It promotes cultural appreciation among a generation that’s currently preoccupied with their technology. In fact, it can be said that if it weren’t for art, our history, culture, and traditions would be in more danger of being forgotten than they already are.
- It breaks cultural, social, and economic barriers. While art can’t really solve poverty or promote social justice on its own, it can be used as a leveled playing field for discourse and expression. The reason why everyone can relate to art is that everyone has emotions and personal experiences. Therefore, anyone can learn to appreciate art regardless of their social background, economic standing, or political affiliation.
- It accesses higher orders of thinking. Art doesn’t just make you absorb information. Rather, it makes you think about current ideas and inspire you to make your own. This is why creativity is a form of intelligence – it is a special ability that unlocks the potentials of the human mind. In fact, studies have shown that exposure to art can make you better in other fields of knowledge.
The truth is that people have recognized how powerful art can be.
Many times in history have we heard of people being criticized, threatened, censored, and even killed because of their artwork.
Those responsible for these reactions, may it be a belligerent government or a dissident group, take these measures against artists knowing how much their works can affect the politics in a given area.
In the hands of good people, however, art can be used to give back hope or instill courage in a society that’s undergoing a lot of hardships
Great Art elicits powerful sentiments and tells meaningful stories
Art can take the form of film, music, theatre, and pop culture, all of which aim to entertain and make people happy. But when films, songs, or plays are made for a specific audience or purpose, the art begins to diversify.
Films, for example, can be made to spread awareness or cultural appreciation. Songs can also be composed in a way that they bring out certain emotions, give inspiration, or boost the morale of people.
During the Victorian period in England, women started to make a name for themselves with such classic artworks such as Elizabeth Sirani’s “Portia Wounding Her Thigh”, a painting that signifies the message that a woman is now willing to distance herself from gender biasedness.
Portia wounding her thigh, by Elisabetta Sirani.
The painting’s subject depicts an act of a woman possessing the same strength as that of a man. “Portia” represents surrender because she isn’t the same type of woman known in society as weak and prone to gossip.
One of the revolutionary works in the history that ultimately opened the doors of arts to women in general, ultimately, showed the power of women in art
There are also works of art that illicit strong intellectual discourse – the kind that can question norms and change the behavior of society.
Sometimes, still, art is simply there to reach out to a person who shares the same thoughts, feelings, and experiences as the artist.
The truth is that art is more than just a practice – it is a way of life. Art is more than just a skill – it is a passion. Art is more than just an image – each one tells a story.
The fact that art is quite connected to human experience makes it unsurprising that we have always made it part of our ways of living.
This is why ancient and present-day indigenous groups from all over the world have a knack for mixing art and their traditional artifacts or rituals without them knowing, which in fact one of the fundamental reasons of why art is important. Art is a powerful form of therapy
Some say art is boring. But the fact remains that art has the power to take cultural practices from where they are from and then transport and integrate them into different parts of the world without losing their identity.
There, these art forms can be used to entertain, create awareness, and even inspire foreigners to accept these cultures, no matter how strange or alien they may seem.
This is especially important in our highly globalized world.
Art has played an important role in helping fight against intolerance of different cultures, racism, and other forms of unjust societal segregation.
With immigration becoming a growing trend, the world’s countries are expected to be more tolerant and accepting of those who enter their borders.
Art helps make that happen by making sure that identities and their cultures are given due recognition around the world. Thus, it is imminent to reflect upon – Why art in important – which in fact provides you the answer to – What is art?
This is why we at The Artist believe that art is a form of creative human expression, a way of enriching the human experience.
NFTs: The Future of Art
Now, the world of art is shifting towards a digital and alternative world. And NFT is becoming a game-changing variable in this significant shift.
What is NFT artwork?
An NFT, which stands for “non-fungible token” can be defined as a digital file that can be simply and easily transferred across a blockchain network.
Many people around the world are seeking out these digital assets to sell and trade in their everyday market trading, since these items are able to be traced, have value and oftentimes also have considerable rarity for collectors.
While artistic works are certainly a part of the NFT market, a variety of different players are getting involved through gaming systems, avatars, and even entire virtual worlds.
Such tokens have a wide variety of usage and while for many these are out of reach, for serious investors NFTs can prove to be a profitable source of income.
Conclusion: Why is art important to human society?
Art and its definition will always be controversial.
There will always be debates about what art is and what is not.
But no matter what the definition may be, it has been around us for as long as humans have existed (i.e. cave paintings, hieroglyphics).
Whether or not we are aware of it, we allow arts to affect our lives one way or another, and the reasons why we make art are many!
We use the arts for our entertainment, cultural appreciation, aesthetics, personal improvement, and even social change. We use the arts in order to thrive in this world.
So, share your thoughts – What does art mean to you?
What Does WordArt Mean?
WordArt is a text styling utility available in Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. It helps in providing special effects like outlines, gradient glow, shadow, bevel, textures and 3-D effects to the text, effects which are unavailable in the standard font formatting tools.
Techopedia Explains WordArt
WordArt helps in dealing with text by providing different styles to the letters and their typographic arrangement. WordArt is available in many preset styles and can be customized with the help of drawing tool options in the toolbar in applications or the WordArt tools tab. New styles were added in Office 2007 to WordArt, which also gave the feature a new look and a complete overhaul.
In the case of a Word document, WordArt can be added by selecting: Insert -> Picture -> WordArt. WordArt can also be modified or moved by choosing: Modify -> WordArt.
WordArt is simple to create and use and easy to access. It can modify the look of the text by bending, skewing or stretching the shape. It can help in enhancing the look and feel of the text used in the Microsoft Office applications, especially in Word. This is especially helpful in the case of highlighting titles, headlines or information. However, the styling offered is limited to the options included in the WordArt utility.
April 11, 2023
All Dictionary
WordArt meaning in Computer Terms Dictionary
WordArt is a text modifying feature in Microsoft term, a favorite term processing program. It includes results including shadows, outlines, colors, gradients, and 3D impacts that may be included with a word or term. WordArt may fold, stretch, skew, or perhaps change the design associated with the text.
WordArt can be added within A Keyword document by selecting Insert→Picture→WordArt… This opens the WordArt dialog package, which gives an individual a number of text types to pick from. When a mode has been selected, an individual types the writing the style will undoubtedly be placed on and the result is saved as an image in the document. The WordArt can then be moved or modified by choosing Modify→WordArt.
The OpenOffice.org office package features the same function to WordArt, called FontWork. Photoshop 7 and soon after also contains a Warp Text feature, which supplies comparable text adjustment options.
Word — высокофункциональный текстовый редактор, который постоянно растет и развивается. Здесь можно писать не только тексты, но и реализовывать иные задачи, к примеру, добавлять фотографии, таблицы, снимки экрана, графику и прочее. Все это находится во вкладке “Вставка”.
В данной статье мы поговорим о таком элементе, как WordArt. Многие пренебрегают его возможностями, хотя он позволяет эффектно украсить документ интересными дополнениями. Более того, это хороший вариант приятно провести время.
- Что такое WordArt и как получить доступ к нему в Microsoft Word
- Как начать использовать WordArt в текстовом редакторе
- Доступные функции для настройки WordArt
- Адаптируйте WordArt к документу Word
Что такое WordArt и как получить доступ к нему в Microsoft Word
Думаю, всем известно, что это коллекция текстовых стилей, которые позволяют создавать оригинальные яркие текста, используя отраженный текст, тени; можно работать с символами, цифрами или словами. Можно добавлять специальные контуры и текстуры, изгибать, вращать или деформировать тени. Все это помогает интересно преподнести текст или презентацию. В общем сложности WordArt содержит до 15 различных стилей, поэтому, проявив немного изобретательности, можно создать оригинальный, интересный текст.
Для тех, кто решил воспользоваться им в первый раз или просто желает освежить в памяти его возможности, для начала выполняем следующее:
- запускаем Word;
- переходим во вкладку “Вставить” и находим надпись “Вставить WordArt”.
Как начать использовать WordArt в текстовом редакторе
После того, как вы нажмете на “Вставить WordArt”, вы увидите 15 образцов в виде буквы “А”. Это позволяет определиться с типом оформления, который подходит под наши потребности.
Работая с WordArt, стоит учитывать, что это не просто текст, а работа с изображением. После того, как вы выбрали нужный образец, появится ряд новых параметров. Выбираем вкладку, где мы будем осуществлять настройку. Появится текст с выбранным стилем, который мы можем вращать, растягивать, изменять размер и т.д.
Доступные функции для настройки WordArt
Существует обширный список функций, которые позволяет настраивать текст в соответствии с нашими задачами. Рассмотрим каждую из них, чтобы вы имели представление как это работает:
- Рамки и обивка.
Перемещаясь по представленным стилям, мы увидим все цвета, которые можно использовать в работе по оформлению текста.
- Площадь поверхность сверла (соединяющаяся со сверлильной головкой) более увеличенная, что позволяет существенно увеличить надежность и точность крепления;
- хорошо держат заточку;
- высокая вязкость;
- ударопрочность (держат высокие нагрузки, не боятся вибраций);
- используется сплав из карбида вольфрама, что обеспечивает чрезвычайную прочность;
- Заливка и контур фигуры.
Выбрав значение Shape Fill, появляется возможность придать необходимый тон для заднего фона текста. Здесь мы также можем добавлять градиенты, менять текстуру;
- Эффекты формы.
В данном вкладке можно добавить к тексту такие эффекты, как затемнение, освещение, сглаживание, скос или даже 3D отображение;
- Заливка, контур и текстовые эффекты.
Перейдя в раздел “Стили WordArt”, можно изменить первоначальный стиль, поменять заливку текста, настроить контур или добавить эффекты;
Адаптируйте WordArt к документу Word
Может показаться, что процесс адаптации текст из WordArt в Word довольно сложный, но на самом деле это не так, вот некоторые полезные функции:
Как мы видим, можно разместить форму, созданную в WordArt на переднем плане или за исходным текстом. Можно изменить размеры, подогнав по страницу. Все это находится в разделе “Организовать”. Если вы проявите немного смекалки и усидчивости, то сможете создать интересный и продающий текст без особых трудностей.
