Definition of art

I am happy to deliver you an old message. The original definition of art may be even much older but I don't have any older reliable sources than some books from the 1920's. When times pass by, everything will be worse year after year. People don't know what they are talking about and new sources of information will emerge without true authority.

It is easy to believe in something if your friends have the same faith. Ask your friends how the things are and they will later ask you the same questions. This nice unnoticable game to automatically gain expertise is the source of most human misbeliefs and actions both in good and bad.

So, what is the definition of art? My source of information is the popular encyclopedia Pieni tietosanakirja by Otava, printed in Helsinki, Finland in 1928. On page 646, one can read the following simplified definition of art.

Art. Human actions using means perceptible to human senses (shapes, lines, coulours, tones, words or movements) for trying to arouse in other persons feelings similar to his or her own feelings caused by inner or outer perceptions of the artist.

Who are included in the definition of art?

According to the definition of art, there are no space for middlemen in art. The critics are out. However, an encyclopedia printed just 40 years later in the 1960's, defines art in a different way. There are no traces left of the feelings of the artist in the definition of art. Today, another 40 years later, the artist has gone too, leaving machines and critics fighting each other.

I trust the definition of art from the 1920's although I don't have older sources than the books which I bought with five euros in a flea market during the time of the deep economic depression in Finland just before the middle of 1990's.

It is a pleasure to think that some 80 years ago, the feelings of the artists were included in the definition of art. A deep understanding between the artist and the public existed then without middlemen and machines but what happened to the artists during the latest 40 years? Using the following test, I try to find out if I am an artist.

Art test with hidden characters in pictures

When creating the pictures on these pages, I wished to share my joy with you. Please look at this collection and then read about the hidden characters around you shown in the pictures. Also look at the Finnish language pages (Suomeksi) where there are plenty of other pictures of the same kind. Producing the same feelings will make these pictures art. If you like them or are just afraid, please tell me something about yourself and about your new dreams aroused by the hidden characters.

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