The one about my art philosophy

Sunset XII-I March 21, 2014 Oil on canvas 6:30 pm

My philosophy of art
Terry Barrett's book Why is that art? asks the question about your own personal philosophy of art, and as my answer, I have written the following:

Art is a form of communication
that uses words, images, sounds, performance, or
the representation of these
as a language existing in two- or three-dimensions
as an artifact of an individual, group, or community action
who are willful in putting the artifact in context with art history, or
advancing art history with the artifact.

The purpose of art is to communicate experience that either
has been lived, or
can be imagined being lived, or
records a lived experience occuring in the moment of the artifact's making.
Communicated through symbols,
art is interpreted through a viewer's decoding of the symbols' significance,
and an artist is, by presenting 'art' to be experienced by a viewer, engaging
in a discussion that may provide answers to questions,
pose questions without offering an answer,
open a discussion, or
provide the artist's(s') understanding of a subject, a process, or way of living.

The goal of communicating is understanding, and art is just another means,
like spoken language and all its written forms,
to this end.

Sunset XII-II March 21, 2014 Oil on canvas 7:15 pm