any conscience being whether human or animal can create art. elephants and gorillas have been known to paint in captivity, orcas have fashion trends and I'm sure there are more examples that we simply do not notice in the natural world since we have a much different cultural context then the beings creating it.
Peacocks use their colorful feathers to scare off other animals. One person may see this a defense mechanism; other people will see a nice assortment of many different colors.
