What is art?
This blog has been viewed over 300 times but only two people have posted any comments. So, I'll get you started with a "simple" question. What is art?
The word "art" comes from the Latin ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to arrange".
Webster's first definition of art is the quality, production, or expression, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
From Aristotle, art is concerned with imitation, the representation of appearances, and gives pleasure through the accuracy and skill with which it depicts the real world.
Plato states that the artist is inspired by the Muses (God, inner impulses, or the collective unconscious) to express that which is beyond appearances - inner feelings, eternal truths, or the essesnce of the age.
Immanual Kant concluded that art can only be judged by its own criteria and not by anything external to it. This was later popularized by Theophile Gautier as "l'art pour l'art" ("art for art's sake").
What do you think? How is art defined? Can it be defined?
Please, give your ideas and thoughts in the "responses" below.
3 comments:
I certainly cannot give an "educated" definition on art as the most I can draw are stick figures, lol. However, to me Art is a reflection of the artist's own self and their reflection and view of the world around them. I recently visited MOMA and saw so many different takes on similar things. I could've stared at each painting for hours. Everything seemed to be a snapshot of a particular time and place. To me, Art is a reflection of the Artist(s) themselves...
I think you don't have to be a working artist to identify an "educated" definition of art. "Art is a reflection of the Artist's self" has been a popular definition and explaination for art throughout the study of Art History. However, like all art historical methods, it has it's limitations. It fails to take into accout the other possible influences besides the artist.
If you think about non-western arts, like Egyptian art, the viewer cannot often see the artist's reflection in the work of art. A stronger influence is the social and religous practices of the time, which are often depicted in the mural painting. The artist's mark is hidden, and we as the viewers may never see it.
I don't know if I could come up with a comprehensive definition of art. What I like to study within art history is non-western art. Many of the pieces of art I look at are everyday objects, like bowls and vessels, jewelry, and religous icons (stone carvings). Some of these pieces have the aestetic values that our culture promotes, and are seen as art by the general public. But how do those same people feel about the less beautiful, old, and broken pieces that I would also consider art? Maybe those are really just artifacts...
I define art to be anything which appeals aesthetically to the senses. Whether it be sight, touch, taste, smell, emotions and feelings, whatever, I would give that piece credit as being art. I also believe that art is something that possesses the power to connect people amongst differences. People who see, hear, or taste something which brings about the same results emotionally or aesthetically I would say have jsut witnessed art.
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