While in college, I took a philosophy course. Part of our discussion was what was considered "art," and what was not. Our professor basically told us something deemed art by someone considered an "artist" is art. Nothing more, nothing less. So, being the person that I am, I had the following conversation with said professor.
Me - What makes a person an artist?
Prof - An artist is someone who creates.
Me - I create things. Am I an artist?
Prof - No.
Me - Why not? I create stories, poems, essays, and other things.
Prof - You are missing the point.
I guess I was.
So, what is art? As a former literature student, I am supposed to say that it is something that has an aesthetically pleasing and oftentimes challenging aspect and characteristic that communicates with us at a deeper level than our consciousness. I totally agree, yet that is so mysterious. As many people notice, lots of things are considered art. Many things that are what some call obscene or grotesque are labelled art (just search Robert Mapplethorpe or The Body Experiment, but be prepared!!). Pornography is art to some. Yet, art in its truest sense is that communication spirit to spirit. I have been so moved by paintings and sculpture, but I could not put words to the feeling. I have read poems, stories, and novels that express exactly what I have never been able to say, in ways that are totally beautiful. Yet, I cannot tell you why I think so. This is communicating to my Inner Man, my Inner Spirit, my essence. I believe it is soul communication. That part of us that is us. Beyond our mere flesh and bone, synapse and fiber, to that part where we truly lie. The Holy Spirit communicates with us in that area, and art does too. Why? Because God is the One True Artist. Look at our world. It is glorious! It is the finest expression of creativity and communication from the Most High to His subjects. Why does so much art try to mimic and re-create life? Because our world is the perfect manifestation of all the creative power that artists want to possess. God has painted sunsets, sunrises, mountain vistas, desert landscapes, sculpted mighty peaks and deep valleys. He formed oceans, lakes and rivers, glaciers and snowscapes. Just try to imagine. He created the nebulae, comets, and asteroids, planets and stars. That is an artist. And it all speaks to us beyond a shallow visceral level. It penetrates to our true being, our soul.
That is art. Soul to soul communication. Our Inner Spirit communicating to others and with our Creator, the Great Artist.
Some have said we are created as hedonists, with much of life being a battle for the object of fulfillment. Self, sex, substances, success, simulated realities, sensational highs and a myriad of things compete for stage time. The ugly composite of things we allow to possess our hedonistic heart greatly shape the sources of experiences we associated with beauty. Yet, beauty cries out to something cosmically timeless, intrinsically ethereal, a vapor that in one sense is touchless and in another so weighty that it threatens to destroy us if fully experienced. 
