The arguments being used to deny that AI-generated images can be art can be used to argue that photography is not art. Generative art has existed for decades, has been featured in art galleries, and has long been considered art by many. The arguments against AI-generated images can also be used to deny that generative artwork is art.
This is my counterargument: Art is not, and should not, be defined by effort or ego.
Ask anyone and most people agree that anything can be art. That art is in the eyes of the beholder or that art doesn't need to require any sort of effort to create - but that the act of creation is enough. We even find arguments about whether art can be rated on a spectrum of "bad" to "good" and among the people who agree that art can be rated we will find arguments about the properties which make art "bad art" or "good art".
People will argue whether or not Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire is art. You will find arguments about if Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian is art.
The common retort by artists when someone exlaims "Anyone could have done that!" is often "Yes - but they actually did." as if the act of execution alone is enough of a justification to call something art.
So if it is not the effort required to create that makes something into art - what is it that does?
Is it whether someone would be willing to buy the artwork? Or whether it was ever sold in the first place? If you are an artist that sketches portraits of people - and nobody ever buys one of your portraits - are you still an artist? I think you would most certainly think of themselves as an artist - and many other hobbyists would be inclined to agree. So art clearly isn't about making any sales.
I would like to ask you now to please take a break from reading in a moment and spend a few minutes thinking about what makes art art. Start each thought with "Art is..." and write them down somewhere so that you can refer to them again when you have finished reading. You can have as many or as few requirements as you like - but you must have at least one. All done? OK. I'll share mine first - please scroll down the full height of your screen to continue reading - there will be a blank space to prevent accidentally peaking at my answer.
・Art is anything made with the intent to be art
・Art is anything done to express one's self
・Art is anything done to evoke emotion (negative or positive) from observers or participants
・Art is any one of the above and is not required to be all of the above all at once
Art can be relaxing and put your mind to ease. Art can cause your thoughts to race and make you feel panicked or scared. Art can ignite inspiration or cause you to spiral into a deep depression. Art can evoke anger or happiness. Art can make you cry and in so many various ways too. Art can make you laugh so hard you have difficulty breathing and even bore you to sleep.
Maybe some of you noticed, but did you notice how I placed no requirements on how art must be made but only why it is made? Getting into an argument may evoke emotions such as sadness or anger but I do not consider an argument to be art. While something such as cooking can be an art - cooking isn't always art. In my world art is defined mostly by intent. If something is created with the intent of it being art then it is. No matter how gets created.
Answer the below questions with a simple "Yes" or "No" answer using the guidelines you wrote down earlier. If your definition of art includes something that you don't actually agree is art or excludes something that you actually agree is art - take a moment for self-reflection and adjust your definition(s) as necessary. If you adjusted your definition(s) - go through the list again from the start. Repeat this process as many times as needed until you agree entirely with your definition or until you give up because you cannot reconcile the differences.
If something can be considered art by your definition, even if it isn't always considered art, the answer should be considered "Yes". Adjust your definition as necessary.
・01. Is tracing art?
・02. Is drawing art?
・03. Is painting art?
・04. Is tossing a bucket or buckets of paint at a canvas art?
・05. Is digital painting art?
・06. Is 3D modeling art?
・07. Is animation art?
・08. Is writing art?
・09. Is telling a story art?
・10. Is giving a speech art?
・11. Is knitting art?
・12. Is sewing art?
・13. Is taking a photo art?
・14. Is editing a photo art?
・15. Is recording a video art?
・16. Is editing a video art?
・17. Is designing clothes art?
・18. Is how you dress yourself art?
・19. Is styling your hair art?
・20. Is sculpting art?
・21. Is ceramics art?
・22. Is architecture art?
・23. Is origami art?
・24. Is whistling art?
・25. Is singing art?
・26. Is dancing art?
・27. Is choreographing a dance art?
・28. Is participating in a flash mob art?
・29. Is composing a song art?
・30. Is playing a musical instrument art?
・31. Is conducting an orchestra art?
・32. Is cooking art?
・33. Is street performance art?
・34. Is miming art?
・35. Is fast posing art? (Example - what the poser, not the photographer, is doing.)
・36. Is acting art?
・37. Is programming art?
・38. Is improvination art?
・39. Is performing magic art?
・40. Can something made by two or more people be art?
・41. Ignoring any moral or legal issues such as copyright - can someone take something created by another person that was not originally intended to be art and transform it into something that is art? (eg. taking a discarded drawing not created with the intent of being art and framing it to hang on a wall as if it were art)
・42. Ignoring any moral or legal issues such as copyright - can someone take something created by another person that was originally intended to be art and transform it into a distinctly different piece of art? (eg. Remixing a song into a new song)
・43. Is art that is illegal to sell or distribute due to violations of any local laws, trademark laws, or copyright laws still art?
・44. Can art include elements of randomness that will never be exactly the same again if one was to try and recreate the artwork?
・45. Is something that is made by two or more people art?
・46. Is something that can only be made by two or more people art?
・47. Can something created by strictly following a list of directions or rules without deviation be considered art?
・48. Can something still be art if you do not know how it was made?
・49. Can something still be art if you do not know who made it?
・50. Is the resulting painting of asking 1,000 people to each place a single brush stroke wherever and however they like with whichever color they want onto a canvas considered art?
・51. Are animals capable of creating art?
・52. Are fractal flames created by using Apophysis or any similar software considered art?
・53. Provided with an initial state and a strict set of rules which must be followed by a computer - is the resulting output considered art? Example
・54. Provided with an initial state and no rules - is the resulting output of a computer considered art?
・55. Provided with an initial state and no rules - is the resulting output of a computer that is then further edited by a person considered art?
・56. Can something you once considered to be art ever cease to be art? (For clarification - a person's ownership of an artwork is not the question here. Treat stolen art as if it were the original art from the original artist. Would you consider any paintings that you had once considered to be art to no longer be art if you had discovered they were painted by Adolf Hitler? What if they were created by a computer?)
That was a very long list and it wasn't even fully comprehensive! I am hoping that most of my readers answered "Yes" to most of the above questions - if you answered "No" to any more than five, excluding the first, I would love for you to share your definition of art and the items you did not consider art with me at artist@everythingcanbe.art. I expect that most "No" answers will be to questions #1 and #51-56.