Reality

Is art real? That may sound like a very stupid question, but I believe the saying that no question is stupid if one doesn’t know the answer. A real thing is something that exists on its own – as opposed to something that is supposed or imaginary. For example, before Isaac Newton derived the existence of gravitational force from his observations, other scientists and people in general supposed all kinds of things about the earth, moon and stars – from beliefs that the earth was carried on the backs of huge animals to theories of mechanics involving strings or of vortexes. The gravitational force was real, and the rest was supposed. (One book I find very informative that talks about this is Gale E. Christianson’s “In the Presence of the Creator – Isaac Newton & His Times”)

I know art is real in a sense that there are many paintings, sculptures, music, theater plays, etc, but are those things present because of a real fact like the invisible gravitational force that holds them together, or are they like the beliefs and hypotheses of strings and vortexes that people supposed were true but weren’t? After all, so many people consider art to be something without a utilitarian purpose, like an ornament with no function. And when budget cuts need to be made in education, in most cases art classes are the first to go. So what are the observable facts of life that would make art an integral part of our reality?