This is How I Define "A Work Of Art"

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” ~ Plato 

This quote written by Plato, is a proverb meaning that beauty is a perception from the viewpoint of the viewer. Similarly, in the art world, the interpretation of one’s perception of what a work of art is, would be different from the interpretations of others, therefore, no interpretation is considered wrong. 

As defined by the Oxford dictionary, a work of art is “a painting, sculpture, poem, piece of music, or other product of the creative arts, especially one with strong imaginative or aesthetic appeal”. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is considered as something with a high artistic value giving high aesthetic satisfaction to the viewer. Growing up with this definition, I have believed that an artwork could be defined as the process of mimesis as we tend to replicate what we see or do that is of aesthetic appeal. It would often include characteristics that represent other objects or events in the real world context, even so, we as viewers could see the meaning literally. As we were young artists, we didn’t understand maturely about what an artwork is other than the idea of mimesis as we created artworks that consisted of copies of online images or observational drawings of our surroundings. Along with this, we would often focus on the end product being of aesthetic appeal and satisfaction as fundamental parts of an artwork. Additionally, ancient artists such as cavemen or even artists from the first few movements created artworks that are of what they see around them. If one could sum up the reasonings of this argument, they could define a work of art as a creation by the artists literally representing objects or events in the real world from their own viewpoint or perspective. 

However, one could question this definition in the view of the fact that when we were toddlers, we created artworks that were from our imagination. This is because children are born curious and exposed to daily routines that are new to them, thereby creating a spark in the child’s imagination. In addition, we want to create artworks that have a symbolic or metaphorical representation of something else. It would often include characteristics such as objects of imagination or the representation being non-existent. This stems from the ideas of the mythic stage of the evolution model of the human mind. In other words, when one experiences something, they would often narrate what they experienced. At times limitation of language and trying to reach a larger audience, representation through art works very well. However, memory is often distorted leading to the brain automatically imaginatively narrating what they experienced. These stories that they are trying to express are often expressed through artwork. The most obvious characteristics that one could notice from these particular artworks would be the manipulated use of elements of art along with the subject matter being unrealistic, examples include surrealist artworks of Salvodor Dali or Frida Kahlo’s work. To support this, Alan Moore mentioned that “art is like magic where it would be the science of manipulating symbols, words, or images to achieve changes in consciousness”. This quote leads me to change my definition of a work of art that it is a creation by the artists that often have images that are often manipulated to create a symbolic or representational meaning in a piece. 

As a developing artist, I have believed that a work of art would be limited to only painting, drawing, sculpting, music, dance, and in the area of art as a whole. However, if I take this in a different perspective as if I put it in simple words,  art is a means of expressing creativity whereas if I take a part of the Oxford definition of art, it is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination” into a piece. If I broaden this definition to other branches of studies like science, mathematics, culinary, literature, and programming, one can see how creativity has been used to put a variety of ideas together to create new ones, and expressing this in different forms. Therefore, art can also be seen in all the professions. For example, back in the days, people did not have technologies like laptops, ipads, genetic programming but the scientists or programmers at the time used their creativity and logical reasoning to create a piece that would be useful in today’s society. These pieces can be  considered a work of art. In other words, creativity leads to experimentation where one experiments different materials and ingredients to create a “final” piece that would not be only limited to entertainment but also for functional uses. Additionally, creativity is developed through our own interpretations, ideas, and theories about the problems in the world to which we are exposed to. Looking in daily life, creativity in culinary form is also a work of art as it considers how we are able to experiment with various ingredients and be creative in combining opposing ingredients into creating that one delicious and aesthetically appealing dish. These reasons have changed my perspective about what is a work of art, into a creation by artists that uses creativity from experimentation and exposure to real world problems and ideas. Hence it can be seen that it is not only limited to visual and performing arts but also to other subjects like science, mathematics, culinary field, literature, etc. One cannot narrow its use only for entertainment but for any useful and accessible purposes in daily life.

Overall, if I look at these definitions from a far, one would more likely favor the third definition as a reasonable definition of a work of art. From what I know, how we define a work of art would be a byproduct of our own creativity and trying to express some thought or imagination or idea. Furthermore, these ideas can be about trying to raise awareness about a topic, trying to find solutions to daily exposure to problems, or just trying to be creative and experiment with materials or ingredients. It helps to provoke, entertain, and educate us about the unknown and imaginative thinking. Another reason that I would choose this definition, is due to the fact that it is generic and it overlooks all spectrums of human life and allows us to self-analyze and observe and see the bigger picture of human existence. Thereby, it allows us as viewers to create our own interpretation of what is a work of art and how we define it to fit our own understanding. Additionally, a work of art is a byproduct of our growth in understanding the human mind and imagination. It is a combination of mimesis of something, trying to understand the problem, and theoretically thinking how we can solve the problem and express it to others. This expression can be in the form of an artwork, a scientific invention, food, music piece, performance, and much more. 

To conclude, what defines a work of art varies amongst people and is not limited to paintings but other subjects. However, there is no universal answer of what is a work of art, it solely relies on our own interpretations of our perception of a work of art. This thought process has changed my perspective on what is a work of art and how art can be made not only for entertainment but for functional purposes.