What Creates Art?
　Today, let’s think about what art is.// The definition of art varies from person to person, but I suppose whatever is created by humans is art.// The oldest work of art ever known is a painting in a cave in Indonesia that was created about 44,000 years ago.// It depicts a wild animal being chased by a hunter.// Obviously, it described a part of daily life.// Such an image, scraped out by humans, can be regarded as art.//
　What creates art?// The answer is the thoughts of the creators.// They include emotions, and some may express criticisms of society, while others may show their religious beliefs.// Art is the expression of such thoughts over certain events.// What gives a work its value, then, is the viewers’ evaluation.// Viewers interpret the thoughts expressed in art by artists, and evaluate them from their own artistic perspectives.// Some evaluations are shown as appreciation, and others are quantified in the form of a price.//
　Artists depend on such appreciation and prices to make a living.// There may be amateur artists engaging in the act of creation and indifferent to the appreciation.// However, even such amateur artists become pleased by a favorable opinion from others.// Therefore, the value of art is determined from two perspectives: that of the creators and of the viewers.//