Can Sport be Considered an Art?

Sports and art are two universal languages that everyone understands and they date back thousands of years. The two, rather different subjects, share many similarities and often people think that sports have some aesthetics value to offer.

In order to find out whether or not sports can be considered art, we have to understand the definition of art.

Art is the expression or application of creative imagination and skill that is visually appealing. In other words, art is all producing visuals that are mainly appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.

So, where does sport classify compared to art?

Sport on the other hand is an activity that involves physical exertion where an individual or a team competes against another team for entertainment. When you say it like this, it doesn’t sound much like art, but many people can argue about the beauty of sports and its emotional power that goes beyond anything in this world.

Both subjects allow us to express ourselves physically, intellectually, and emotionally. After all, sport just like art, connect us with different people and it acts as communication that doesn’t recognize borders, cultures, languages, and generations.

It seems like sport and art share many similarities, so does this mean that sport is art?

Well, even though people don’t notice, there is a deeper connection between art and sports. First of all, we have the importance of color in sports. We have different colored belts that represent different things, colored penalty cards, typography, font styles, logos, mascots, and much more.

But does the use of color add aesthetics value to sport? – Probably not, but it helps us express our emotions better and have a better understanding of the game which is very similar to the color characteristics on art pieces.

If we look at art and sports, as being all about creativity, personal expression, and imagination, we will start to notice the connection between these two industries.

Most artists would argue that something can be considered as art if the piece doesn’t have any other use other than being visually pleasing. In other words, cars cannot be considered as an art just because they offer a number of uses, same as sport.

If we define art only by being strictly about visually pleasing then sports cannot be considered as art. With that said, art isn’t always about the visual aesthetics of a painting and a sculpture. Art is more about the emotional values it represents and how it makes other people feel when they are around it.

Just because sports are growing in popularity over the years, many new artists are trying to use them as inspiration for their paintings and sculptures. This proves the emotional value of sports, and how it is interpreted around the world. So, sports how can sport inspire other artists to create sports-themed art, but at the end of the day, they are not considered as art?

It all comes down to how you see sports and your engagement with this high-paced action. If you are just entering the sportsworld, it is hard to find that emotional value that comes from sports apart from the end result of a match. That’s why most people see sports are a competition where being victorious is the only goal. 

Sport is much more than playing for the win. It is an entire culture that works for the same principles and shares a good message across the world. At the end of the day, sport and art share many similarities which can be used for good like sharing peace and changing people’s lives. And players such as the greatest NBA point guards all time, can be compared to artists and be reverenced as such.

We can all agree that some sports share some aesthetics value, especially when you are watching a professional team that plays flawlessly like a perfectly written symphony. Art or not, sports offer great values for both athletes and supporters that inspire many people to become better, divide opinions and are a topic of discussion everywhere.

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