so, i just started rigging and something i noticed is that sometimes it feels more like an art than i previously thought it would. I’ve heard people call rigging a long grueling process but i find it more a cool and engaging process
i was just curious what you all thought.
rigging: an art or a tool to make art?
Hmmm… Not sure I see it as an art. More like an almost-endless set of experiments. 
I can see why people would call it an art when you look at the extremely elaborate setups some people do for their models.
Luckily, things should seem a bit less grueling once the depsgraph refactor is committed (due to how it will open up many new possibilities for rigging).
I would say it’s more like dark sorcery 
No but it really depends on the mindset that the person has towards rigging. I personally always cringe when i’m about to step into the rigging phase, but once i’m there i sometimes enjoy it and understand why people see it as an art.
I guess ultimately the robot one creates with the mesh, the rig, will create more freedom of expression concerning animation - thus creating life… an emotion. I spend too much time rigging, well in another software, to get the best rig to do what I want, from fat jiggle to a very dynamic mouth. I would say the logic and experimentation can be an art form - as the final show for it is certainly worth noting.
Well… just a though. =P
This is just a guess - but could the 5x5 be for the dimensions and the 35 for the material?
Rigging is great fun if you’re technically minded, creating that performance space for the character model to move in, as well as a useful interface for the animator to use. You’re creating that system, which is technical and a matter of craft, but some systems are more elegant and intuitive and fun than others, and that’s really where the art comes into it. But it doesn’t have to be necessarily one or the other.
So yeah, rigging is fun. Rig weighting on the other hand… nghh…
Yup. Rigging definitely can be fun. Weighting, on the other hand, is evil. Just check out my sig.
Heh… sounds like art to me 
Rigging is the art of slowly driving yourself insane and the tool to insanity.