Thank you so much for your responses! Since you find this a cool discussion, allow me to continue it, if I may.

It’s a shame that we traditionally define art as something that has no practical, “real world” value. We even use the phrase “art world,” as though artists existed in some parallel universe. But what if other creative acts could be considered on a par with art? What about if, instead of putting a chunk of Arctic ice in a city square to “call attention” to the problem of climate change, an artist simply created carbon offsets and called it art? After all, solving problems like climate change requires creative thinking too, no?

Andy Warhol, in his typically cynical way, said that success in business is the highest form of art. So couldn’t we say that saving humanity and our planet is the highest form of art?