Quote - Nice post Morkonan :)

Your talking about story telling and speech. But I submit that there is also 'eye candy' art.

A pinup or portrait or space scene ect... can be 'eye candy' thats just nice to look at without telling a story or makeing a statement.

The message isn't as important as the emotional response it evokes. :) Ken

(Emphasis mine)

AHA!  Gotcha!

".. The message isn't as important as the emotional response it evokes."

Isn't that a message?  If you are intending to provoke an emotional response, how is that somehow contained in the sum of the parts used to create the work?  You didn't hit a magic button and add a splash of "awe" along with "majesty" and "wonder" to the piece, did you?  Yet, your composition may have intended to illicit these feelings.  THAT is communication.  THAT is Art.  You have broken the barrier between a simple depiction and produced Art.  Of course, if that wasn't your intent, then it's Not Art.  Intent is completely necessary otherwise the definition is entirely left up to the individual and, well, that would seriously upset Webster's.

:)

However, if you are an engineer and charged with helping a studio artist render a scientifically and factually accurate portrayal of a plane crash, shuttle explosion or some natural disaster for the purposes of communicating the facts to an Investigative body.  That is NOT art.  You are not creating anything with the intention of communicating something more than the sum of its parts.  In fact, doing so would be antithetical to your purposes!