The Death of Art

Verse:

Exodus 35:30-35: "Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 'See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. ....'"

Thoughts:

Hello everyone, I'm back! I hope you all had a wonderful December.

Today I’d like to define what art is, look what makes good art, and ponder how there is the death of art in modern society. 

Defining art is a difficult task. I would argue art is that which is a thoughtful, expressive form that can come under aesthetic critique. And it is made using a creative process. 

I would say good art is created with an eye for design, thought, and balance. Building off the prior definition, good art is that which follows God's process of creation - truth, beauty, thought, and goodness.

Without being rooted in God, it is impossible to give an objective, absolute definition of good art because it would simply be an opinion. I want to focus on trying to wheedle out what the objective truth of what good art is.

I will just focus on visual art. Good visual art integrates classical elements like line, shape, shadow, contrast, and balance.

Sadly, there is death of good art in modern society.

There is a lack of beautiful, lovely art. There is a lack of visual drawing or painted art that truly takes time and thought. Although there is a surplus of digital art, because so many of the classical methods are not taught and therefore not known, many digital artists cannot achieve the same level of beauty.  Of course there are exceptions to everything, but I say this as a general rule. 

For example, someone jumping on a trampoline with a paintbrush, making lines on a canvas is not good art. It is not unique to that human – anyone can do that. And, it is not lovely like Rembrandt or Bouguereau (one of my favorites). 

Another example: the banana taped to the wall. This isn’t art. It took barely any time to do. Any one can do that. The "creativity" may be unique to that person (I mean I wish I thought of that).

But, it isn’t beautiful and doesn't make you think deeply (other than worry about the state of our society). It doesn’t make you really feel anything by looking at it other than frustration and a tad bit of disgust. 

Only Rembrant could create a Rembrant. Only he can truly capture a setting in the way he would see it. We can practice all day to paint like him and our painting may look like his style, but only he could draw out the details in a scene that he chose. It is completely unique to what he wants to express. 

Good art then is that which is created following God’s creative process, and it is an expression unique to the person.

Ask Yourself: How do I define good art? What elements would I say qualify good art? Where do I get these elements from?

#29

9 Jan 2026