The Arts TOK II. Why Art? The desire to create objects which are aesthetically pleasing rather than...

The ArtsThe ArtsThe ArtsThe ArtsTOK IITOK II

Why Art?• The desire to create objects which

are aesthetically pleasing rather than of practical value seems to exist within all cultures

4 Main Questions• What is art?• Are aesthetic judgments subjective or

objective?• How do the arts contribute to our

knowledge of the world?• What are the similarities and

differences between the arts and the sciences?

What is art?• What distinguishes art from junk?

– A work of art must be man made• Three possible criteria:

– The intentions of the artist– The quality of the work– The response of the spectators

• Look at page 330.

Art?• Opera?

Art?

• Rap?

Art?• Computer generated music?

Art?• The Play: Hamlet

Art?• A Soap Opera?

Intentions of the Artist• It is a work of art if it evokes an

aesthetic response from the audience.

• Aesthetics – branch of philosophy which studies beauty and the arts

• Artists are supposed to deliberately communicate something to us

Intentions of the Artist• Art should be made not practically

but rather with the intention of pleasing or provoking people.

• Aesthetic intention towards objects is called art.

• Works of art differ from natural objects in that they are made to please people intentionally.

Criticisms of the Intention Criterion

• Some doubt that intending something to be art is not enough to magically transforming it into art.

Tracey Emin, My Bed


Famous Cross in Glass of Urine & NEA funding.


• Two criticisms– Intentions of the creator are neither

necessary nor a sufficient condition from something to be a work of art.

– Something originally intended as art now may be treated as such – May simply be junk.

Quality of the Work• We expect artists to have a high level

of competence.• The belief that a work of art should

have some kind of intrinsic quality has often been associated with the idea of beauty.

• We should say that a great work of art is a marriage of form and content.

Quality of the Work• Content – what the art depicts

(face, landscape, bowl of fruit, etc).

• Form – the way the art is put together (unity, order, rhythm, balance, proportion, harmony, & symmetry)

Criticisms of the Quality Criterion

• A work of art may have may have a great deal of technical competence but lack originality.

• Kitsch – any from of clichéd art (ex. Greeting card using impressionist styles)

• Forgeries – not art, but relevant

Criticisms of the Quality Criterion

Picasso’s The Bull’s Head (content & form) Is it art?

Response of Spectators• Art requires an appreciative

spectator to complete it.• Danger of the “uniformed public.”• Some artists know their work does

not cater to the general public but rather a certain sector of the art community.

Other Ideas About the Nature of Art

• Is Everything Art?– Marcel Duchamp objects taken out of

context and placed in art galleries– Where does art begin and where

does it end?

• Can everything be looked at from an aesthetic point of view?

Marcel Duchamp’s Art


With Hidden Noise


In Advance of a Broken Arm


Why not sneeze, Rose Sélavy

Inexhaustibility

• This means that every time you come back to it, you see something new.

• Sometimes art must “mature” to be appreciated.

• Edgar Allen Poe vs. Stephen King?

Judging Art

• Canon – great works collection– Greek Tragedies– Shakespeare– Mozart– Beethoven– Picasso– Goethe– Da Vinci

The Paradox of Aesthetic Judgment

• Are there standards of aesthetic judgment?– Grading a piece of art obviously

suggests there are standards– You cannot argue tastes in the arts no

more than you can argue taste in food

• You can educate tastes!

Should Aesthetic Judgments be Disinterested?

• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) – there is a big difference between judgment of tastes and aesthetics.

• Compare:– “I like this painting.”– “This painting is beautiful.”

• Are these statements true to coexist?• Leave your background prejudices

behind when judging the aesthetics of art.

Should Aesthetic Judgments be Disinterested?

• Disinterested - Leave your background prejudices behind when judging the aesthetics of art.

Piss Christ by Serrano Andres (1987).

Are There Universal Standards in Art?

• Psychological Factors – Humans have the same basic perceptual equipment

What one word describes this painting?


•Komar & Melamid – made paintings that tried to discover what people found most attractive.

• Landscapes were most widely popular (rooted in biology?)

Komar & Melamid


•Cultural Differences – differences exist whether we admit it or not.

• We must not be blinded by the differences.

Cultural Differences

A View of Derwent Water – English Painter

Cultural Differences

A View of Derwent Water – Chinese Painter

Art & Knowledge

•Three Popular Theories about the Nature of Art:–Art as imitation–Art as communication–Art as education

Art as Imitation

•The purpose of art is to imitate reality.–Oscar Wilde – “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”

–Wallace Stephens – “Reality is a cliché from which we escape by metaphor.”

Art as Imitation

Art as Communication• Artists sometimes try to

communicate something to their audiences.– Joy, sadness, love, triumph, death,

etc.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN AUDIO & VIDEOSymphony N°9 op. 125 Erika Miklósa, SopranoBernadette Wiedemann, AltoAndrás Molnár, TenorIstván Rácz, Bass

Art as Education

• The Arts have a moral & educative role.

• The Arts provoke emotions that influence our behavior.

• The Arts broaden our awareness of different people, situations, and places.

Dracula (1931)

dracula31.mov

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

texas_chainsaw_massacre_m480.mov

Plato vs. Aristotle

• Plato – by inflaming the emotions, art weakens our ability to lead rational lives – he banished the arts from his famous work, The Republic.

• Aristotle – art does not incite emotion as much as purge, or cleanse us of it – known as catharsis.

Plato vs. Aristotle• Whether the arts can barbarize

or civilize a society is a matter of faith!

• Many historical tyrants were well read and versed in the arts including Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, & Mao.

Science, Art, & TruthArtists Scientists

science has reduced beauty

art is a frivolous waste of time

appeals more to imagination

appeals more to reason

Must have rational control on creative insights to have lasting value

beauty of science is in pure mathematics

Reason, Imagination, & Beauty

• Both art and science are trying to make sense of the world by looking for patterns in things.

• Reason & imagination play a larger role in both art & science.

• Einstein said the theory of relativity was too beautiful to be false.

»Beauty is not a guarantee of truth.

Discovered or Invented?

• Some would argue science is discovered where art is invented.

• Others would argue that science is as much invention as it is discovery.

• Laws are not truths but rather useful fictions that help us make sense of reality.

• Arts can be lost where science can be rediscovered.

Science & Art as Complements

• It could be argued that science looks at things from the outside while art looks at things from the inside.

• Science explains how things are composed.

• Art is the language of emotion.

The Arts and Truth• Paradox of Fiction – fiction is

sometimes able to reveal truths about the human condition.

• Where two scientific theories contradict something, two different works of art can be equally revealing of the truth.

• The arts contribute to the richness and depth of the world.

Conclusion

• Art & Non-Art Differences– Intentions of the artist– Quality of the work– Response of the spectators

• Three Theories of art:– Copy Theory– Communication Theory– Educative Theory

The Arts TOK II. Why Art? The desire to create objects which are aesthetically pleasing rather than...

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