What is art, anyway?

I am not sure what it is, myself. I know that it's not even agreed upon in a fundamental way. Many people I respect have said art is inherently political. I think art should be apolitcal. Art ascends and transcends at its best, and I think very lowly of politics. I do, however, admit that my opinion of art is not yet streamlined or refined. These thoughts are just the beginning. It seems that more modern movements in both art and aesthetics have phased out the importance of Beauty while redefining themselves. I'm not sure this is correct. It seems to me that Beauty has been connected to that which is gratifying, always pleasing to the aesthetic sense, and the absence of pain of any sort. Perhaps Beauty should be redefined.

I learned and agreed with the holes in the structure of truth-traditional beauty. But I don't think that the truth-beauty structure must be completely abandoned, especially if beauty is reconsidered. Music is full of ranges that interchange moments of harmony with moments of dissonance. Dissonance, taken alone, is depressing, but harmony, unbroken, is boring. The piece of music is complete for the listener when taken as a whole. It is the entire spectrum of dissonance and harmony combined that lends beauty to music. Let us apply this idea to all of art.

Beauty does not culminate in the pleasure of an idea or aesthetic. It does so arriving at some greater truth. It brings about awareness and realization. This can't happen with a one-sided view of only goodness, pleasure, and conventional forms. There must be a more complete version that also includes pain & suffering, difference, and challenge within the broader picture. With that, there is at least a greater appreciation or greater understanding of that which is pleasing. Beyond that, it may also inspire new forms and new ideas. This is Beauty. If this is correct, then art & aesthetics can be described once again as pursuits of beauty, which is the awareness and realization of some greater truth. And so, we have art. Or at the very least, that is my idea of my art.