Quote - ...charge!

(...what?)

/P

IMHO,

I have a definition, refined over some time, which sums up my opinion regarding "Art." -

"Art is a human creation which attempts to convey more meaning than that which is purely represented by only the sum of its parts."

This definition fits every "artistic" endeavor.  It also differentiates between visual pictures meant only for titilation (pr0n) because it differentiates between the artist's intent and the viewer's experience.  It removes catalog ads and screenshots of such things as models which only serve as descriptive representations of the product pictured.  However, it does include "bad" art.  That is "art" in which the artist intended to represent something more than the sum of its parts but failed, horribly.  They may have failed, but it is still "Art" even if its terrible.

The key point in defining all "Art" is that it relies solely on the intent of the Artist and NOT the reaction or interpretation of the experiencer. Most people can't get over that one small part of critical reasoning.  One must be exceedingly careful in differentiating between what one believes to be worthy of the title "Art" and one's own bias in interpretation.  There's plenty of Art out there that I can't stand.  But, simply because I don't like it or the message wasn't accurately conveyed to me, due to my own bias and experiences, doesn't disqualify it as being "Art."

Context is also important and can radically change purely representational/illustrative pieces into true "Art."  Consider - A picture of a trashcan in a litter strewn alley taken by a news photographer to show evidence of the problem a city has with cleaning up its messes can be turned into "Art" by a good columnist that pairs the picture with a literary piece which seeks to link the picture with underlying social problems in the city.  In context of the article, the picture becomes "Art" because the columnist attempts to use it to communicate much more than the sum of its parts.  Paired frequently enough and reinforced by reference, the picture can turn into its own masterpiece (Such as the infamous Vietnam era execution picture.)  However, neither the original trashcan and alley nor the picture taken by the photographer were true "Art" to begin with.
So, there you have it - My two coppers.  Worth every penny you paid to read them. ;)