Art and Design (it's not a competition)

Great art gets talked about. Great designs are often referred to as works of art. What does that tell you? So not all art is created with the intention of being art. Art then, is a term that society applies to a an object. The qualifications of what society deems to be art changes over time. It used to be that art, great art was based on skill level, accuracy of replication, command of shadows, blah blah blah. But contemporary art is based on meaning. I think thats where art and design differ. Design is always functional. Its intended to be used for the physical creation of an idea. We can even design a work of art. But the design and the work are separate. We kept asking about purpose. But what if by "purpose" we intended to say "meaning"? Contemporary art offers meaning, but design offers none. Even if the artist of an artwork does not give his own work meaning, someone else may find meaning in it and thereby call it art. If no one ever sees my painting of a little girl its still art because I painted that little girl in such a way that it means something. But because it doesn't get seen, it doesn't get rated or valued. It's a benchwarmer without the opportunity to strike out nor to hit a homer. We live in a revolutionary/reactionary society. A society where everyone wants to put their 2 cents in, even if it's uncalled for. Thats why people today seek to ascribe meaning to art. If I piss on canvas (yes Pollock!) simply because I couldn't hold it, someone might see my canvas and say wow this ugly yellow stain on a canvas that smells like piss is a statement of how our government pisses on us. That person is an idiot. I simply had to pee. But if other people agree with his idea and it gets popular enough, my piss is now art. How about that