Anything and everything of interest to humans is turned into words and images - symbols of things that are as real, or more real, to us than the things themselves. Certain products of that symbolizing process which become culturally recognized and valued are given the name art. Apes and ants do not require art, nor do they need names, flags, titles, books, myths, pictures, museums, contracts, currencies, histories, numbers, laws, trophies, licences, passports, resum s, and on and on to identify who they are and where each individual fits into the social order. Only humans dispute over words and ideas and find social identity and purpose in their stories and art. The more a society bases its identity on scientific and religous freedom the more political things become because science, invention and new technology force changes in traditions, ideals and ethics.
Art is frequently a mirror and indicator of social change.
The invention of the camera in France at the midpoint of the 19th Century is a good historical example. Photographic technology compelled people to see and think outside of old boundaries. Each movement replaced familiar views of reality with a new perception. During World War I a few artists from both sides of the warring nations fled to neutral Switzerland. As pacifist refugees they formed a movement they called Dada.