technique, art, craft, performance, acting, trick, stunt
芸 centers on skilled human activity that is practiced and performed: a technique, art, craft, or performance. The trick and stunt senses are extensions of practiced skill used to entertain or deceive.
芸 is the modern simplified form of 藝. The older form 藝 combines 埶 (planting, skill) with 云, which likely contributed sound. The modern 芸 retains the grass crown 艹 and the sound component 云, but the historical connection to planting and skill is clearer in the older form.
The grass crown 艹 sits above 云, like a performer's hat over a stage. Picture an actor wearing a leafy crown, performing a practiced trick or stunt on stage.
For ゲイ, imagine a performer in a leafy crown doing a trick and saying 'Gay!' as a flourish: Gay -> ゲイ, and the artful performance gets a laugh.
art; the arts
public entertainment; performing arts
(TV) comedian
entertainer; performer; celebrity; entertainment personality
art; craft; accomplishment; artistic skill; technique; performance
industrial arts; craft
literature
horticulture; gardening
arts and sciences; liberal arts
Aki (former province located in the west of present-day Hiroshima Prefecture)
ceramic art; ceramics
handicrafts
acrobatics
stage name
geisha; professional female entertainer, usu. at traditional banquets
performing style; acting style
street performance
folk craft; folk art
entertainment; performance
performance; trick; feat; stunt