Yo! It's an Article Response OR This is Also Art.

The article Art as a Cultural System not only asks what art is but delves into the situations of cultural differences as art. Profoundly enough, I’m not sure I agree with the first part’s message; that in many non-western cultures they create art without really a background or an objectivity to it.
Does art really need a purpose, or an analysis for it to be considered art? Sure it may be a great thing when art can combine a community together and actually get them discussing amongst themselves as to what the deep rooted meaning behind a brushstroke really is. But art can be practical as well.
The second section goes on to describe art as a religious vehicle to paint scenes into people’s heads. Quite literally, art was a potential bias for today’s modern day beliefs. If people were inspired by some questionable paintings of punished bodies for sins, perhaps it may have molded more minds then thought. Art has such an effect, sometimes it becomes a pop-cultural icon. When this happens, nowadays especially it becomes something commercial and it brings one to wonder, is it still art when its created in mass quantities? Afterall, one of the special things about art is just that, its usually rare and can only be created once.
But art really, even as its wrapped up in the end needs to be broken down from its Western assumptions, or its non-western practicality. Perhaps both communities could learn from each other so one can see why one is art and why the other can see its practical use. But in the end I could just be babbling and not really got anything of what the article was discussing.