An Idea about what Visual Art is

We are in a very long process of trying to make ourselves at home in the universe, and art has been a part of this process for 70,000 years [or more].

There are forms that we find pleasing, or meaningful, or beautiful, and we might wonder why. Why are cave paintings from 15,000 years ago still beautiful to us? What accounts for this consistency that so far exceeds any influence of culture, history, politics, religion, or any other influence that occupies our attention?

The work of a visual artist is to create, from an infinity of possibilities, a work that is visually significant. This visual significance cannot be accurately named or explained: it has to be seen. A good work reveals what has visual significance for the mind of the artist. And when we respond to someone else's work, what we are is revealed. What am I? What is this mind? Oh, there it is!

Art reveals the mind, from its most superficial and tedious to its most perceptive, profound, and creative, by creating a thing that we can see and might respond to. Really good works are so in accord with the mind that they are as timeless as the mind itself. They will never be out of date. Their significance, or beauty, or whatever we call it, will not diminish.