The highest art form: what is it?

[designprofessor]

Originally Posted by Eiy-Kyu

Typography, because none of the other art forms mentioned here would exist without the written word.

Petroglyphs would be earlier.

 

[Reggs]

Originally Posted by whodini

Love is a many splendid thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love.

Moulin Rouge?

 

[Quirk]

I would have to say that imagination is the highest form of art. Followed by vocal musical performance.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by chrysalid

I believe that for a piece of cinema to be regarded as art, it has to be the product of an auteur, the director has to have had an influence in every part of the film, from screenplay through soundtrack to final editing.

I am myself a proponent of the auteur theory as a way to approach and analyse cinema while at the same time being a highly applicable highway to finding more good films (i.e. you like a film, go to imdb to find more films by the same director and then proceed to seek those out). However, I must say it is an oversimplification that tends to strip away the significance of the scriptwriters, cinematographers, actors and composers contribution to the overall work. Surely the undeniable artistic qualities of an orchestra conductor do not make soloists less than full fledged artists in their own right. Borders are even harder to define in cinema, where a director may contribute to the scenario while a cinematographer certainly does to the visual ideas displayed on screen. Films are definitely a collective work when you get down to details, however I must admit that some animals are more equal than others; directors being IMHO the largest contributors to the art of cinema.