Vox pop

Chamber's Dictionary 1897 didn't provide a definitive answer to the question "what is art?" so a little crowd sourcing is called for.  Ok people, let's hear it.

 

This is a fairly common response.  Warning: contains hidden shallows.

Eric Lough suggested "art is the impression of a man's mind".  I once saw a set of photographs taken during a single afternoon by a severely autistic girl.  All of the photos were of tiny details of the world.  There were no vistas, no landscapes, no people.  There were geometric shapes, there were colours, there were textures.  I felt that, for the first time, I was seeing the world the way she did.  The whole world was confusing but by concentrating on a detail she regained control.