Here are my two distinctions for art and technology:
1. In every action, there is a purpose, and there is a method.
Or "how" and "why". "how" is the domain of technology.
For example, how to mix paints, or how to tie your dancing shoes.
2. The _purpose_ may be to create something
a) enjoyable or
b) useful
useful means that at some other stage it will hopefully be used
for creating something enjoyable; that's an intermediate product;
we never consume those.
"useful" belongs to domain of economics, and is counted on the
monetary or project-management scale. "enjoyable" is art and is
counted by the human internal emotional machinery.
Some art forms may be perceived through physical senses; others,
like philosophical ideas or elegant designs, should be downloaded
through a semantic interface and digested before they can produce
the joy.
Food is an interesting example here - some of its function is
body economics (parts that get absorbed through intestines),
another - the parts that cross *your [consciousness]* border,
are [culinary] art.
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Alexander Chislenko <sasha1@netcom.com> www.lucifer.com/~sasha/home.html
Firefly Network, Inc.: <alexc@firefly.net> www.ffly.com 617-234-5452
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