"the arts" < noun>
1) The various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.
2) Subjects of study primarily concerned with human culture (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects).
3) A skill in a specified thing: the art of conversation.
- Oxford Concise Dictionary
A LITTLE ATTITUDE TO ART
Society is constantly bombarded by media. We are entertained and see the promotion of the eminence of celebrity, the high plateaus of artistic achievement. All that love and jealousy makes a lot of money catering for a fascination that can become sordid. I would take an educated guess that students are choosing courses that deploy the creative side of the brain, rather than the mathematical. People don't have 'hobbies' anymore, they have art-forms that they hope will raise them a little nearer to fame. Recognition is that small but vital step towards professionalism. Selling your work is the ultimate compliment, and, without that recognition, creativity can fade.

In the 21st century cinema is still the ultimate art form, but next-generation Hi-Def games are coming up fast on its velvet coat tails. I discovered that gaming makes me happy. Schizophrenia has caused me to 'stop thinking' on many occasions, and games have helped me to 'bump-start the machine'. They can improve memory, reflexes, puzzle-solving, and logic. They are an experience unique to the player. You could spend £10 on a film, and watch that for two hours, or £40 interacting with a game for thirty five hours. In terms of entertainment value for money there is no contest. Yet making films is a massively more complicated and expensive process that itself utilises computer graphics. It is a collaboration of skills. Editors, musicians, lighting, photography, painters, writers, actors, CGI programmers, and dozens of other disciplines, which I say are, each and every one, all 'arts' in themselves. I had AN ambition to work in film as a teenager - but not THE ambition. Film production is the biggest clique and the most over-subscribed industry in the world.