Main Entry: 2art
Pronunciation: 'ärt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin art-, ars – more at ARM
1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation
2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : LIBERAL ARTS b archaic : LEARNING, SCHOLARSHIP
3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill
4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : FINE ARTS (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art
5 a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful
6 : decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter
not quality art or any b.s. spiritual expression but relative to other art forms is it similar to other “art”?
It could be if done in a artistic way, but most porn to me is pure trash making a joke of the human form and sexuality. Porn is for arousal. Nothing is wrong with arousal but most pornography is ugly to me.
As has been said, art is expression. Everything we do has an artistic element. However, that element may not be the primary intent of the action; with porn, the primary intent is to cause arousal, so I don’t think it’s any more sensible to call pornography art than tying one’s shoelaces or blowing one’s nose if you’re using the current meaning of the word. Pornography does’t aim to inspire creativity or aesthetic sensibilities; it is the result of applied human endeavor though. Of course, if the makers of what someone else considers pornography consider it to be art (and not pornography), then there is little way to apply set quality standards or something and determine who is really right.
When pornography is considered pornography by everyone involved, I still don’t think it’s rational for society to label it an “obscenity” that is somehow too terrible to be distributed or viewed.
I may have to contradict myself in saying that art is something that illicits emotion. If porn does, I guess in certain ways you could call it art. In that case though, you might have to call those violent video games art - because they illicit emotion too.
Art:
[i]
Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.
The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.[/i]
Could it be beautiful? Sure, but beauty is in eye of the beholder so I guess you could say that porn is subjective to the specific style and person enjoying it. I don’t know.
i mean its people having sex for the sake of arousal with use of obvious aesthetic flair. to some extent the act of provoking arousal can be considered an art form in itself…
i got this from a conversation i had with my girlfriend about what the similarities are between porn and real movies. it came down to intent really… porn being produced to cause arousal. movies also do the same thing but in their case its considered art because the major focus isnt arousal its sub par plot lines.
the question later went on to be “is porn a form of cheating” because evidentally in the conversation we tried to draw a better understanding of how to define offensive sex and she compared it to cyber sex. in a poll she found the majority of men and women dont think porn is cheating but find cyber sex to be drastically more offensive. i think the numbers were in the majority for women and somewhere around half for men on cybersex.
i suppose the best question wouldve been whats offensive about sex? or what causes jealousy or what is promiscuous about porn?
I don’t think that’s a good definition. If you take marijuana, for example, it illicits an emotion; that isn’t a fine art. The point of pornography is to stimulate, whereas the point of fine art is to describe, explain, or explore.
If the person considers it porn, then they’re ultimately considering a way to get turned on; if they consider it art, then it might be a way to understand sexual arousal, but it wouldn’t be pornography to them, because that isn’t what the word means.
Sex is a fundamental part of our emotional framework; it is therefore powerful. So, if sex is used, people can easily see it as power being thrown around. A relationship can use sex largely as a means of expression–which allows affirmation, a stronger bonding, and other things–but if a member of the relationship is getting their sexual desires fulfilled elsewhere, these things are reversed. In many ways, that weakens the relationship. Watching porn is promiscuous because it appeals to sexual desires alone, without any real ties to a person; it’s just the stimulation of urges. Whether that is a bad thing depends on how a person sees themself I guess.
Among the guidelines for determining what is pornographic is ‘whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value’. That is to say, porn, by definition, is not art. If it’s art, it’s not porn, and vice versa.
I think we’ve got to much inherent value wrapped up in the words, for some of us to take the question as simply as it really is. “Is porn art?” is going to tug on some like saying “Is ?” I want to say ‘no’, before I know what I want to say at all.
So, forget all that, take away all the inherent goodness of art, and just let art be anything created primarily to be appreciated by the senses. Then art isn’t especially wonderful all the time, and porn can simply be a part of it, without legitimizing porn or delegitimizing art.
This whole thread clearly hinges on what you define “art” to be; I’ve attempted to use “fine art” instead of “art” to serve the the distinction between “something people make” and “something people make to convey via aesthetics.”
I don’t think your definition comprises what a creative art is; a musician doesn’t write music just so that people’s senses can tell them to like it, they write it to express ideas and feelings. Pornography doesn’t aim to express sexual desire, just to stimulate it; it has no object beyond the desire itself.
A fine art isn’t defined just by the nature of the activity, it’s defined by its intent. As above, by the nature of having an object. Conventional actors and actresses aim to convey emotions to the audience for the purpose of the audience recognizing them, whereas pornographic actors and actresses convey emotions to stimulate sexual desire in the audience.
well… to a very large extent that satisfies a lot of the porn side of the question.
i always hated the way people define art… but in your later post…
you satisfy some of the confusion on art. i still get really confused i suppose is the simplest way to describe it when defining my opinions on art. i really cant pin point what i find annoying about artistic qualities nor do i know why they appeal to me.
what i hate about art… a large portion of what people call art i find trite and thats entirely contrary to what artists want to do. create the already created. it feels to me like they failed to express themselves. or maybe theyre just too average to make something someone else hasnt already felt or made.
what i like about art… the natural beauty of honesty creativity and aesthetics (specifically bionic and human forms).
so porn is trite obviously but with natural aesthetic pleasure and brutal honesty.
somehow i always want to define art as creating something that uniquely and/or personally expresses an emotion for the viewer or listener to draw meaning from.
i dont know how that fits in with porn… thats just a bit of typing thoughts so i can see them i think…
