Artist

Artist is a subjective term which describes a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, their endeavors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most often, the term describes those who create within a context of 'high culture', activities such as drawing, sculpting, acting, dancing, writing, filmmaking and music — people who use imagination, and talent or skill, to create works that can be judged to have an aesthetic value. Art historians and art critics define artists as those who produce art within a recognised discipline.

Related Topics:
Aesthetic - Art historians - Art critics - Art

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term is widely used to denote highly skilled people in non-"arts" activities, as well — crafts, medicine, alchemy, mechanics, mathematics, defense (martial arts) and architecture, for example. The designation often applies to people skilled at nefarious or questionable activities, too — like a "scam artist".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Billions of books, articles, essays and theses are written, academic courses created, and café discussions held in an effort to define "art" and "artist", and yet, there is no consensus amongst humans about what constitutes "art" or who is, or is not, an "artist".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most often, the discussions focus on the differences between "artist" and "technician" or "entertainer," or "artisan," "fine art" and "applied art," or what constitutes art and what does not.

Related Topics:
Technician - Entertainer - Artisan - Fine art - Applied art

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Western culture widely accepts that anyone can call themselves an "artist", however posterity ultimately decides whether the label fits.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Oxford English dictionary, cites broad meanings of the term "artist,"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* A learned person or Master of Arts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* One who pursues a practical science, traditionally medicine, astrology, alchemy, chemistry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* A follower of a pursuit in which skill comes by study or practice - the opposite of a theorist.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* A follower of a manual art, such as a mechanic.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* One who makes their craft a fine art.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:* One who cultivates one of the fine arts - traditionally the arts presided over by the muses.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(referenced from: {{Book reference | Author=C. T. Onions | Title=The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary | Publisher=Clarendon Press Oxford | Year=1991 | ID=ISBN 0-19-861126-9}})

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Greek the word "techně" is often mistranslated into "art." In actuality, "techně" implies mastery of a craft (any craft.) The Latin-derived form of the word is "tecnicus", from which the English words technique, technology, technical are derived. Our word art is derived from the Latin "ars", which, though literally defined means "skill method" or "technique", holds a connotation of beauty.

Related Topics:
Technique - Technology - Technical - Beauty

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many contemporary definitions of "artist" and "art" are highly contingent on culture, resisting aesthetic prescription, in much the same way that the features constituting beauty and the beautiful cannot be easily standardized without corruption into kitsch.

Related Topics:
Culture - Beauty - Kitsch

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~