What Is Art?

My answer:

This is a question of meaning.  I think the best the way to answer such a question is to ask how it is used.  The word "art" is usually used to describe objects deemed art by the conventional wisdom of artists, curators and collectors.  We should therefore try to identify the characteristics most commonly associated with this piece of conventional wisdom.  The characteristics I can see are that art:

1) is created by a human

2) has meaning (which may have to be explained)

3) is visual

4) is non-functional

5) has meaning for the artist