Is it "true" art?
Published on July 24, 2005 By Larry Kuperman In OS Customization
I went to the University of Michigan Art Museum yesterday for my second look at their exhibit of Pop Art. Well worth checking out, in my not-so-humble opinion.

When Pop art was in its infancy, critics did not consider it "true" art. A critic, of course, is someone that lacks the capacity to create something, but has the qualifications to tell the artist what they did wrong. (Wry smile.)

Which raised the question for me, "Is skinning true art?"

Now I am rather opinionated on the topic. Commenting on the ability of Essorant's work to evoke feelings, I described Essorant (the great Tim Dagger) as "Like Van Gogh, only you have more downloads."

I am curious as what the rest of the community thinks. Is this "true art" for you, a hobby, or something else.

Lest we get into a discussion of what is art, let me offer the following definition, courtesy of Dictionary.com:

"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 would say that skinning meets that criteria. What do you think?

Comments (Page 2)
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on Aug 01, 2005
A critic, of course, is someone that lacks the capacity to create something, but has the qualifications to tell the artist what they did wrong.


Using Larry's defintion, that makes me an art critic.

So as an art critic, I'd say yes, skinning is art.
on Aug 01, 2005
Here in OZ we have a guy who 'artistically' lambastes pieces of carpet with all manner of foodstuff....cake, ice cream,etc, and calls that art. The same look could be achieved with regurgitation....but that would be sick, not art
on Aug 01, 2005
Skinning is not art. It is the manipulation of electronic data to produce a desired appearance.

Painting is not art. It is the arrangement of paint.

Sculpture is not art. It is the mere reshaping of earthen material.

Dance is not art. It is just a bunch of jumping around for nothing.

Music is not art. It is just well arranged noise.

*gets hit in face with bat*
on Aug 01, 2005
Considering some of the stuff young people call "music" nowadays, you may be right!
on Aug 01, 2005
Is getting hit in the face with a bat a form of artistic expresson though? Or just a random act of violence which rearranges facial features?

Art is very much in the eye of the beholder in my opinion.
on Aug 01, 2005
starkers .... Pro Hart is a pretty crappy artist.....just knows the right fawning sycophants....
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