Art is the expression of creativity or imagination. The word art comes from the
Latin word
ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement". Art is commonly understood as the act of making works (or
artworks) which use the human
creative impulse and which have meaning beyond simple description. While art is often distinguished from
crafts and
recreational hobby activities, this boundary can at times be hard to define. The term
creative arts denotes a collection of disciplines whose principal purpose is the output of material for the viewer or audience to interpret. As such, art may be taken to include forms ranging from literary forms (
prose writing and
poetry); performance-based forms (
dance,
acting,
drama, and
music); visual and "
plastic arts" (
painting,
sculpture,
photography,
illustration); to forms that also have a functional role, such as
architecture and
fashion design. Art may also be understood as relating to
creativity,
æsthetics and the generation of
emotion.
