ABSTRACT
Many hypotheses about art’s function simply presuppose that art is one thing, thereby excluding other things. A common assumption in many of the nine hypotheses is that the defining feature of art inheres in other characteristics, such as symbol use, beauty, play, skill, narrative, costly signals, or creativity and imagination. The Art and Anxiety hypothesis challenges the Art as By-product claim. There are numerous instances of art behavior that counter the suggestion that people are merely pressing pleasure buttons. One could postulate then that the arts arose in human evolution as adjuncts to ceremonial behavior rather than as independently evolved activities. Artification may look like creativity, but familiarity with traditional societies makes clear that “creativity” and individual showing off are typically, if not always, discouraged. L. S Sugiyama and M. Scalise Sugiyama suggest that costly signals may operate “on several frequencies, capable of sending a variety of messages.”.
