The arts orcreative arts are a vast range of human practices ofcreative expression,storytelling, andcultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing, and being in an extensive range ofmedia. Both dynamic and a characteristically constant feature of human life have developed into stylized and intricate forms. This is achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, or theorizing within a particular tradition, generations, and even betweencivilizations. The arts are a vehicle through which human beings cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgements, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space.
Prominent examples of the arts include:visual arts (includingarchitecture,ceramics,drawing,filmmaking,painting,photography, andsculpting),literary arts (includingfiction,drama,poetry, andprose), andperforming arts (includingdance,music, andtheatre). They can employskill andimagination to produceobjects andperformances, convey insights andexperiences, and construct newenvironments and spaces.
The arts can refer to common, popular, or everyday practices as well as more sophisticated, systematic, or institutionalized ones. They can be discrete and self-contained or combine and interweave with other art forms, such as combining artwork with the written word incomics. They can also develop or contribute to some particular aspect of a more complex art form, as incinematography. By definition, the arts themselves are open to being continually redefined. The practice ofmodern art, for example, is a testament to the shifting boundaries, improvisation and experimentation, reflexive nature, andself-criticism or questioning that art and its conditions of production, reception, and possibility can undergo.
As both a means of developing capacities of attention and sensitivity andends in themselves, the arts can simultaneously be a form of response to the world. It is a way to transform our responses and what we deem worthwhile goals or pursuits. From prehistoriccave paintings to ancient and contemporary forms ofritual to modern-dayfilms, art has served to register, embody, and preserve our ever-shifting relationships with each other and the world.
The arts are considered various practices or objects done by people with skill, creativity, and imagination across cultures and history, viewed as a group.[1] These activities include painting, sculpture, music, theatre, literature, and more.[2] Art refers to the way of doing or applying human creative skills, typically in visual form.[3][4]
InAncient Greece, art andcraft were referred to by the wordtechne.Ancient Greek art brought the veneration of the animal form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty, and anatomically correct proportions.Ancient Roman art depicted gods as idealized humans, shown with characteristic distinguishing features, e.g.Zeus' thunderbolt. InByzantine andGothic art of theMiddle Ages, the dominant church insisted on the expression of Christian themes due to the overlap ofchurch and state.[5]Eastern art has generally worked in style akin to Westernmedieval art, namely a concentration on surface patterning and local colour (meaning the plain colour of an object, such as basic red for a red robe, rather than the modulations of that colour brought about by light, shade, and reflection). A characteristic of this style is that local colour is defined by an outline (a contemporary equivalent is the cartoon). This is evident, for example, in the art ofIndia,Tibet, andJapan.Islamic art avoids the representation of living beings, particularly humans and other animals, in religious contexts.[6] It instead expresses religious ideas throughcalligraphy and geometrical designs.[7]
In the Middle Ages,liberal arts were taught in Europeanuniversities as part of theTrivium, an introductory curriculum involvinggrammar,rhetoric, andlogic,[8] and of theQuadrivium, a curriculum involving the "mathematical arts" ofarithmetic,geometry, music, andastronomy.[9] In modernacademia, the arts can be grouped with, or as a subset of, thehumanities.[10]
The arts have been classified as seven: painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music,performing, and cinema.[11] Some view literature, painting, sculpture, and music as the central four arts, of which the others are derivative; drama is literature with acting, dance is music expressed throughmotion, andsong is music with literature andvoice.[12][failed verification] Film is sometimes called the "eighth" and comics the "ninth art" in Francophone scholarship, adding to the traditional "Seven Arts".[13][14] Cultural fields likegastronomy are only sometimes considered as arts.[15]
Architecture is the art and science ofdesigningbuildings andstructures. A wider definition would include the design of the built environment, from the macro level ofurban planning,urban design, andlandscape architecture, to the micro level of creating furniture.[16] The wordarchitecture comes from the Latinarchitectūra, fromarchitectus "master builder, director of works."[16][17] Architectural design usually must address feasibility andcost for thebuilder, as well as function andaesthetics for theuser.[18]
In modern usage, architecture is the art anddiscipline of creating or inferring an implied or apparent plan for a complex object orsystem.[19] Some types of architecture manipulate space, volume, texture, light, shadow, or abstract elements, to achieve pleasing aesthetics.[20] Architectural works may be seen as cultural and politicalsymbols, or works of art. The role of the architect, though changing, has been central to the design and implementation of pleasingly built environments, in which people live.[21]
Ceramic art is art made fromceramic materials (includingclay),[22] which may take forms such aspottery,tile,figurines, sculpture, andtableware. While some ceramic products are consideredfine art, others are considereddecorative,industrial, orapplied art objects. Ceramics may also be consideredartefacts inarchaeology. Ceramic art can be made by one person or by a group of people. In a pottery or ceramic factory, a group of people design, manufacture, and decorate the pottery. Some pottery is regarded asart pottery.[23] In a one-person pottery studio, ceramists or potters producestudio pottery. Ceramics excludesglass andmosaics made from glasstesserae.[24]
Conceptual art is art wherein the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns.[25]The inception of the term in the 1960s referred to a strict and focused practice of idea-based art that defied traditional visual criteria associated with the visual arts in its presentation as text.[26] Through its association with theYoung British Artists and theTurner Prize during the 1990s,[27] its popular usage, particularly in the United Kingdom, developed as a synonym for allcontemporary art that does not practice the traditional skills of painting and sculpture.[28]
Drawing is a means of making animage using any of a wide variety of tools and techniques. It generally involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool, or moving a tool across a surface. Common tools aregraphitepencils, pen and ink,inkedbrushes, waxcoloured pencils,crayons,charcoals,pastels, andmarkers. Digital tools with similar effects are also used. The main techniques used in drawing are line drawing,hatching, cross-hatching, random hatching, scribbling,stippling, and blending. Anartist who excels in drawing is referred to as adrafter,draftswoman, ordraughtsman.[29] Drawing can be used to create art used in cultural industries such asillustrations, comics, and animation. Comics are often called the "ninth art" (le neuvième art) in Francophone scholarship, adding to the traditional "Seven Arts".[13]
Painting is considered to be a form of self-expression.[30] Drawing,gesture (as ingestural painting),composition,narration (as innarrative art), orabstraction (as inabstract art), among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner.[31] Paintings can be a wide variety of topics, such asphotographic,[32] abstract,[33] narrative,[34]symbolistic (Symbolist art),[35]emotive (Expressionism),[36] or political in nature (Artivism).[37] Some modern painters incorporate different materials, such assand, cement,straw, wood, or strands of hair, for theirartwork texture. Examples of this are the works ofJean Dubuffet orAnselm Kiefer.[38][39]
Photography as an art form refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer. Art photography stands in contrast tophotojournalism, which provides a visual account of news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to advertise products or services.[40]
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of theplastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally usedcarving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of material, such as clay), instone, metal,ceramics, wood, and other materials, but shifts in sculptural processes have led to almost complete freedom of materials and processes followingmodernism. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled bywelding or modelling, ormoulded orcast.[41][42][43]
Literature (also known asliterary arts orlanguage arts) is literally "acquaintance with letters", as in the first sense given in theOxford English Dictionary. The noun "literature" comes from theLatin wordlittera, meaning "an individual written character (letter)." The term has generally come to identify a collection ofwritings, which inWestern culture are mainlyprose (both fiction and non-fiction), drama, and poetry. In much, if not all, of the world, artistic linguistic expression can beoral as well and include suchgenres asepic,legend,myth,ballad, other forms of oral poetry, andfolktales. Comics, the combination of drawings or other visual arts with narrating literature, are called the "ninth art" (le neuvième art) in Francophone scholarship.[13]
Performing arts comprise dance, music, theatre,opera,mime, and other art forms in which human performance is the principal product. Performing arts are distinguished by this performance element in contrast with disciplines such as visual and literary arts, where the product is an object that does not require a performance to be observed and experienced. Each discipline in the performing arts is temporal in nature, meaning the product is performed over a period of time. Products are broadly categorized as being either repeatable (for example, by script or score) or improvised for each performance.[44] Artists who participate in these arts in front of an audience are calledperformers, includingactors,magicians,comedians,dancers,musicians, andsingers. Performing arts are also supported by the services of other artists or essential workers, such assongwriting andstagecraft. Performers adapt theirappearance with tools such ascostumes andstage makeup.[45]
Dance generally refers to humanmovement, either used as a form of expression or presented in a social,spiritual, or performance setting.[46][47][a]Choreography is the art of making dances,[52] and the person who does this is called a choreographer.[53] Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent onsocial,cultural,aesthetic,artistic, and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such asfolk dance) to codifiedvirtuoso techniques such asballet. In sports: gymnastics,figure skating, andsynchronized swimming are dance disciplines. In martial arts, "kata" is compared to dances.[54]
Music is defined as an art form whosemedium is a combination of sounds.[55] Though scholars agree that music generally consists ofa few core elements, their exact definitions are debated.[56] Commonly identified aspects includepitch (which governs melody and harmony),duration (includingrhythm andtempo), intensity (including dynamics), andtimbre.[57] Though considered acultural universal,definitions of music vary wildly throughout the world as they are based on diverse views ofnature, the supernatural, and humanity.[58] Music is differentiated intocomposition and performance, whilemusical improvisation may be regarded as an intermediary tradition.[59] Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between genres are subtle, open to individual interpretation, and controversial.[60]
Theatre or theater (from Greektheatron (θέατρον); fromtheasthai, "behold"[61]) is the branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound, and spectacle.[62] In addition to the standard narrative dialogue style, theatre takes such forms as opera, ballet, mime,kabuki,classical Indian dance, andChinese opera.[63][64][65][66]
Areas exist in which artistic works incorporate multiple artistic fields, such as film, opera, and performance art. While opera is often categorized as the performing arts of music, the word itself is Italian for "works", because opera combines artistic disciplines into a singular artistic experience. In a traditional opera, the work uses the following: the sets, costumes, acting, thelibretto, singers and an orchestra.[67]
The composerRichard Wagner recognized the fusion of so many disciplines into a single work of opera, exemplified by his cycleDer Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung"). He did not use the term opera for his works, but insteadGesamtkunstwerk ("synthesis of the arts"), sometimes referred to as "music drama" in English, emphasizing the literary and theatrical components, which were as important as the music.Classical ballet is another form that emerged in the 17th century in which orchestral music is combined with dance.[68]
Other works in the late 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have fused other disciplines in creative ways, such as performance art. Performance art is a performance over time that combines any number of instruments, objects, and art within a predefined or less well-defined structure, some of which can be improvised. Performance art may be scripted, unscripted, random, or carefully organized—even audience participation may occur.John Cage is regarded by many as a performance artist rather than a composer, although he preferred the latter term. He did not compose for traditional ensembles. Cage's compositionLiving Room Music, composed in 1940, is a quartet for unspecified instruments, really non-melodic objects, that can be found in the living room of a typical house, hence the title.[69]
The applied arts are the application ofdesign and decoration to everyday, functional objects to make themaesthetically pleasing.[70] The applied arts include fields such asindustrial design,illustration, and commercial art.[71] The term "applied art" is used in distinction to thefine arts, where the latter is defined as arts that aim to produce objects that are beautiful or provide intellectual stimulation but have no primary everyday function. In practice, the two often overlap.
Video games are multidisciplinary works that include non-controversially artistic elements such as visuals and sound, as well as an emergent experience from the nature of their interactivity. Within thevideo game community, debates surround whether video games should beclassified as an art form and whethergame developers—AAA orindie—should be classified as artists.[72]Hideo Kojima, a video game designer considered a gamingauteur, argued in 2006 that video games are a type of service rather than an art form.[73][74] In the social sciences, cultural economists show how playing video games is conducive to involvement in more traditional art forms.[75] In 2011, theNational Endowment of the Arts included video games in its definition of a "work of art",[76] and theSmithsonian American Art Museum presented an exhibit titledThe Art of the Video Game in 2012.[77]
Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of art.[78][79][80]Art critics usually criticize art in the context ofaesthetics or the theory of beauty.[79][80] A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation[78][79][80] but it is questionable whether such criticism can transcend prevailing sociopolitical circumstances.[81]
The variety ofartistic movements has resulted in a division of art criticism into different disciplines, which may each use different criteria for their judgements.[80][82] The most common division in the field of criticism is between historical criticism and evaluation, a form ofart history, and contemporary criticism of work by living artists.[78][79][80]
Despite perceptions that criticism is a lower-risk activity than making art, opinions of current art are liable to corrections with the passage of time.[79] Critics of the past can be ridiculed for dismissing artists now venerated (like the early work of theImpressionists).[80][83][84] Some art movements themselves were named disparagingly by critics, with the name later adopted as a badge of honour by the artists of the style with the original negative meaning forgotten, e.g. Impressionism andCubism.[83][85][86] Artists have had an uneasy relationship with their critics. Artists usually need positive opinions from critics for their work to be viewed and purchased.[79][87]
Many variables determine judgement of art such as aesthetics, cognition or perception. Aesthetic, pragmatic, expressive, formalist, relativist, processional, imitation, ritual, cognition, mimetic, and postmodern theories, are some of the many theories to criticize and appreciate art. Art criticism and appreciation can be subjective based on personal preference toward aesthetics and form, or on the elements and principles of design and by social and cultural acceptance.[88]
Arts in education is a field ofeducational research and practice informed by investigations intolearning through arts experiences. In this context, the arts can includeperforming arts education (dance, drama, music), literature and poetry,storytelling,visual arts education in film,craft, design,digital art, media and photography.[89]
A strong relationship between the arts and politics, particularly between various kinds of art andpower, occurs across history andcultures.[90] As they respond toevents and politics, the arts take on political as well as social dimensions, becoming themselves a focus of controversy and a force of political andsocial change.[91]
One observation is that an artist has afree spirit. For instancePushkin, a well-regarded writer,[92] attracted the irritation ofRussian officialdom and particularlythe Tsar, since he "instead of being a good servant of the state in the rank and file of the administration and extolling conventional virtues in his vocational writings (if write he must), composed extremely arrogant and extremely independent and extremely wicked verse in which dangerous freedom of thought was evident in the novelty of his versification, in the audacity of his sensual fancy, and in his propensity for making fun of major and minor tyrants."[92]
Artists use their work to express their political views and promote social change, from influencing negatively in the form ofhate speech to influencing positively throughartivism.[93] Governments use art, orpropaganda, to promote their own agendas.[94]
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