Is art important?

Very important. There has to be more to life than simply surviving, right?

I don't know what you mean by hypnotise people though.

I look at it this way:

If you believe that The Arts are the only thing in the world that matters, you will change your mind if you ever get a cancer diagnosis and are outside the OR waiting for lifesaving surgery. At that point, you will realize that other things matter, and you will hope your surgeon knows diddly squat about Art because they've spent their entire lives studying oncologic surgery!

However, your love of Art will give you a reason to live and hope for the future, and something totally positive to think about when you're going through some terrible struggles. So while Art may not be all that matters, it makes life massively better.

When art is regulated to something that doesn't relate to the natural world, the art is lost but only the industrial instruments used to create it are all that remains.

I consider my pan out videos art.

Only if you are trying to make people think your smart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvzheiXCDjk&pp=ygUZdGhpcyBpcyB0aGUgZW5kIGFydCBzY2VuZQ%3D%3D

You can't spell EARTH without it...

This eternal question and others are addressed in the overlooked popcorn classic Tina and the Professor (1995).