Fine Arts

A term coined on pre-industrial age Earth as an attempt to break the hold on art by the elitists of that time. The term ‘fine’ has little to do with the quality of the work but refers more to the purity of its discipline. The title of ‘fine art’ originally referred to certain visual arts, specifically those categories concerned with aesthetics or beauty. In that earlier time it was strictly used to refer to sculpture, painting and printmaking. Later in the post industrial age, as culture and technology changed, it came to include such things as architecture, the performing arts (dance, theater and opera) and certain types of photography, film, music, multimedia and poetry. Still today we are seeing changes as further additions have made their way into the fine art category including perfect art and the virtual gardens.

After the first singularity the fine arts truly began to flourish. Since that time transapient minds have brought us works, movements and techniques literally beyond the imaginings of modosophont artists. A fact often testified to by those who have seen the Lightstorm or have been fortunate enough to visit worlds such as Bayanty.

It should be said that the ‘categories’ of fine art should not be confused with art movements, referred to by some as fad movements. These movements are defined by a tendency or common philosophy and while vital to the arts, come and go with cultural trends often affecting the look and feel of many categories while they last. Examples of this would be Bauhaus and Maximalism.

NOTE: Although, among laymen, the terms and categories are often intermingled fine art is a specific term distinct and different from ‘craft art’ or the arts making use of a specific craft or discipline. Examples of craft art are the applied arts, ceramics, certain metal working arts (blacksmithing and jewelry for example), design, fashion and textiles. This distinction is not a label to limit the artistic nature of the work or the skill involved. Craft arts, although not exclusively and simply put, tend to deal with utilitarian objects while the fine arts tend to deal with non-utilitarian objects.