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Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect thesenses or

emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes ofexpression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning

of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known asaesthetics.

The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20thcentury. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality

is an absolute value independent of any human view; theObjectivist, whereby it is also anabsolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position,

whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience ofdifferent humans. An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator,

regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may beconsidered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-

produced.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed

during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind tobe classified with religion and science". Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating

thoughts and emotions.

The nature of art has been described by Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the

traditional problems of human culture". It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression orcommunication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for

their own sake, and as mimesis or representation. Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirectmeans to communicate from one person to another. Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood

advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art thereforeessentially exists in the mind of the creator. The theory of art as form has its roots in the

philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and was developed in the early twentieth century by Roger Fry andClive Bell. Art as mimesis or representation has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle. More

recently, thinkers influenced by Martin Heidegger have interpreted art as the means by which acommunity develops for itself a medium for self-expression and interpretation.

In philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science, perception is the process ofattainingawareness or understanding of sensory information. The word "perception" comes from

the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession,apprehension with the mind or senses."

Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology isthe Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli

and their perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology,with its emphasis on holistic approach.

What one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including ones culture, andthe interpretation of the perceived. If the percept does not have support in any of these

perceptual bases it is unlikely to rise above perceptual threshold.