Is magic an art?

Found this video:
Here: http://magic.about.com/b/2013/01/13/is-magic-an-art.htm

A lot of good thought provoking answers in this video. To me there are two tricky parts to this question, the first is "What is magic?" and the second is "What is art?". There are so many different answers to both of those questions. So many answers that it muddles the question to the point where I felt some of the people in the video where actually answering the question "Are magicians artists?" It may sound like the same question but to me it's fundamentally different. I think think the difference in the question lies in the answer to another question "Can magic exist separately from the magician?" To this I answer yes it can, some magicians are simply a vehicle for their tricks. They may be doing the moves but the magic happens in a bubble at the end of their arms. I know I quote this a lot but here it is again “Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.” – Ricky Jay


"Is magic art?" Here is my answer; No magic is a craft. The magician is a craftsman. You can take just about any craft put it in the hands of a master and the thing he turns out is a work of art to someone. Take a wooden table, to me it's just a table, but out there somewhere is a person that loves tables. Show them a table and they will talk about the wood selection, the placement of the grain, the color, the tone, the joints, and a hundred other things about tables that I don't give a flip about. To them the table is a work of art and the carpenter that made it is an artist. Magic can be an art, magicians can be artists, but they are not inherently so.