Art, Design & Craft

‘Art’ is frequently referred to as the process or product of human creativity; the conscious arrangement or production of elements in a way that affects the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression (including architecture, music, theatre, dance, painting, sculpture, illustration, installation, dance, video and cinematography as well as literature). All these modes and mediums are commonly classified under ‘The Arts’.

Furthermore, the ‘Visual Arts’ are art forms which are primarily visual in nature. ‘Visual Arts’ encompasses traditional sub-categories as well as new media and contemporary forms of expression. Examples of such sub-categories include the "Fine Arts", "Applied Arts", "Design", "Crafts", "Performing Arts", and so on. However the definitions of these classifications cut across more than one creative industry segment, ultimately resulting in a complex intersection of fine arts, design and craft.

In terms of ‘Fine Art’ includes those artworks that are created primarily for aesthetic reasons ('art for art's sake') rather than for commercial or functional use (the ‘Applied Arts”’). Albeit, the majority of ‘Fine Arts’ is the product of deliberately arranging symbolic elements which describe something of beauty or with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions. Designed for its uplifting, life-enhancing qualities, ‘Fine Art’ typically denotes the traditional Western European ‘high arts’ (drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture), however also includes modern visual arts (photography, video, film, assemblage, installation and performance art).

Traditionally, the term ‘Art’ referred to any skill or mastery. Thus Renaissance painters and sculptors (such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo) were viewed merely as skilled artisans (craftsmen/ tradesmen). By the mid-18th century, the mere demonstration of technical skills was insufficient to qualify as art - it now needed an "aesthetic" component - it had to be seen as something "beautiful." This fixed Renaissance notion of art being primarily an intellectual discipline was passed on down the centuries and still influences present day conceptions of the meaning of art. In practice, this abundance of new styles and artistic techniques led to a new expansion of the meaning of art. In its escape from its "Renaissance straitjacket", and all the associated rules concerning "objectivity" (eg. on perspective, useable materials, content, composition, and so on), fine art now boasted a significant element of "subjectivity". Artists suddenly found themselves with far greater freedom to create pieces of works according to their own subjective values. In fact, one might say that from this point "art" started to become "indefinable".

Fine art still maintains its notional superiority over crafts such as applied and decorative arts, despite some modifications, as exemplified by changes in art school curricula. Put simply, although both activities involve creative skills, the former involves a higher degree of intellectual involvement. The concept of "utilitarianism" (functionality/usefulness) was used to distinguish the more noble "fine arts" (art for art's sake), like painting and sculpture, from the lesser forms of "applied art", such as crafts and commercial design work, and the ornamental "decorative arts", like textile design and interior design. Craft can be defined as an activity involving a particular skilled discipline, usually performed by hand. Occupations and trades involve practical arts involving knitting, sewing, jewelry, metal/wood work to name a few. Whereas “Applied Arts” develops utilitarian items (cup, chair, table, etc.) using articulated and systematic principles in the design. This wide area includes architecture, industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, as well as all decorative arts. ‘Applied Arts’ is a major branch of art which cannot easily be separated from fine art, because the root of all design is fine art.

The redefinition of art during the last three decades of the 20th century has been lent added intellectual weight by theorists of the postmodernist movement. According to the postmodernist, the focus has shifted from artistic skill to the "meaning" of the work produced. In addition, "how" a work is "experienced" by spectators has become a critical component in its aesthetic value.

In light of this historical development in the meaning of "art", it is evident that it encompasses a host of different disciplines. A "working" definition could be along the following lines: 'Art is created when an artist creates a beautiful object, or produces a stimulating experience that is considered by his audience to have artistic merit.'

This is simply a "working" definition: broad enough to encompass most forms of contemporary art, but narrow enough to exclude "events" whose "artistic" content falls below accepted levels. The world of art and design is a highly complex entity. Thus a simple definition, or even a broad consensus as to what can be ‘labeled’ art, is likely to prove to be exceedingly indefinable.