Art is one of the most difficult words to find a meaning for. Never in our times has a human found a completely fitting definition for it, so each one of us can make a contribution from our own point of view to say what art is.
Let's start from there: point of view. Everything done with an artistic purpose has a point of view. The artists create from their experiences, their knowledge, their feelings... or everything put together. This is the reason why many people might find a piece artistic or not.
Next thing: people. People have necessarily to decide whether one thing is art or not. So art is defined by the society, as it is a creation from humans for humans.
But it is still difficult to decide what art is. I can say everything in this world is art, because it has a meaning. Words could be art, even though they are bad words, they are used to represent an emotion. But for example, there are these words that are used to name many things. I believe those words lost their art. So I can say that art pieces have to have their uniqueness and a meaning behind them. I could be telling that a dot in a piece of paper is art, because it has a meaning, and not because of the fact of being just a dot in the middle of nowhere.
Then we can say that everything done by we human beings, comes from our heads, our creativity. Art is meant to create, to represent reality in a way that beautifies it. This does not mean that people have to put reality into their piece just the way it is, but the way they see it. This means that they can put an element to describe something specific about their reality. We can also create art from imagination, like dragon stories or surreal paintings. Everything that does not exist begins with an existing thing, every new idea begins with an already acquired knowledge. So imagination and the way you transalte it, meaning creativity, are the basis for art.
This is why art is decided by society, because it represents a common understanding of reality, say it is about past, present or future, the world has similar ideas, that will change over time, but that we believe is purity and beauty. If a society has specific believes, they will search beauty according to that.
In class, we came to the definition of art as a representation of reality made by human beings in an effort to create beauty to provoke an aesthetic experience. I disagree on the "in an effort" part. Sometimes art is created by accident, without wanting it to be so, but suddenly, it is art, but you did not know it. So sometimes art is an accident, caused by whatever reason, but it is art. Authors, for example, can write, but their works not be appreciated as art but until a century after or so. This is a kind of art accident. Maybe the author wrote for money or to exemplify something, but not with the purpose of causing an "aesthetic experience" in mind. This author could have had a way of seeing the world that was not appreciated by his contemporaries, but being by later generations. There can be a paintor, that in his painting, does a mistake, and feels his work is ruined; but suddenly he notices that that mistake can be an artistic adding element to his work. It is all a matter of perspective, but we all humans share a common nature that make us look at art in a very similar way, no matter the time or social class, it is being human beings that gives us the possibility to appreciate art.
The "aesthetic" experience art causes is very important. It means that you could give the piece an understanding, a meaning, and knowing that it represents something.
So art can be "A creation by human beings based on reality that is considered beauty and causes an aesthetic experience".
As an example, I can put Robert Miles, with his song "Children" (on the music player of this Blog). With this song he made the Dream Trance music genre appear. It is usually piano or saxofon music with the electronic mix. Robert Miles, from existing music genres, could put two very different ones together and create a new beautiful one. Many people do not like it, but again, it is a matter of perspective. Say it is Contemporary Art or Modern Art, but still art out of music, and it transmits the aesthetic experience. You just have to close your eyes and put play. I believe it is a fantastic genre and this, the first Dream Trance song, is my favorite of that genre.
(Just an ironic statement)
-What is A.R.T.? Let me spell it for you! A is for Aesthetic experience. R is for Representation of reality. T is for The World's understanding of it... right here in the big wide world!
If you know where I got this idea from, maybe you will understand why I call it ironic.
(Image from: superchrome.co.uk)
Darling, if you keep this blog as it is, you will keep me as a huge fan of it. Remind me to have a talk with you about blog reading. BTW, I believe you asked me about buying "Wicked". I found two editions, but I must know which you would like these people to reseve for you. Congrats again on your blog!
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