(Originally Written Mar. 3, 2008 in the Journal)
What is Art?
Leo Tolstoy
Chapter 15
The way to separate art from counterfeit is to consider its infectiousness. True art infects; counterfeit art does not. If a work does not create a union between the producer and the audience then it is not art. Art, true art, destroys the separation and isolation of one's own personality and unites men under one feeling.
The degree of infectiousness is the measure by which we judge good art. The stronger the infection the better the art is. The degree of infectiousness depends on three things. First, the feeling that is transmitted. Second, the clearness of the transmission. And, third, the sincerity of the artist. The third is the most important to how infectious a piece will be. The absence of any one of these conditions precludes a work from being art. This is how art is judged regardless of its subject matter, regardless of whether the feeling transmitted is good or bad.
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