what≠this -- what is art?

what ≠ this it is the purpose of art to find a way to ask the question, what is art? as the forces determining art have receded into the past along with tribes and religions decimated by the expansion of civilization, not to mention the reorganization of time and space, and even what is real -- the condition to which art addresses itself is what is art? as opposed to This is art -- and interestingly when art pronounces that This is art is falls away from its meaning and purpose -- very often artists create work in an arc that begins in the vein of what is art and then later shifts to this is art -- see for example the movies of Abbas Kiarostami. Compare the early masterpiece Where is my friend? to the later Taste of Cherry -- there are many similarities in his work but the first movie seems to be asking What is art? and the second seems to be saying This is Art.