What is art?

Art seems to have two major components: what it is in itself and where it came from. What if something's beautiful, but it was painted by a four-year old? What if something's just a stupid circle, but the artist was making a major statement by creating it? Of course, in a free market economy, any smudge-on-canvas can be validated by an idiot with a spare million in the bank.

I think one of the worst things that can happen to art is become collectible. Then, people aren't seeing the art for what it is, but for what other people think it is. To me, art is something beautiful, something that engages me, something that turns my brain on when I stop to look at it. If it was created for a purpose, fine. If it was created by the random meanderings of a child (or an adult), fine. Sometimes not knowing where art came from makes it more interesting, as knowledge of its creating significantly alters one's perception of it.

Alas, art will always be different things to different people. Colors, shapes, lines, significant whitespace, or even realistic images, art will always be an excellent form of individual expression and creation.