The Real Definition of Art: Understanding the Creator and the Piece - Essay Sample

Introduction

The real definition of art is something that has not been accomplished properly, probably because of the difficulty in differentiating between what is regarded as art and that which is not. The most common definition is that it is a way of expressing what one feels, their emotions, thoughts, or desires. It is stating to the world what one may have experienced in a unique way. At the same time, there is also the aspect of the creator of the piece of art, since one cannot think about a piece of art without thinking about the person who developed the artwork. Each entity exists because the other is present; an artist is called so because they create artworks, while a piece of art exists since it is created by an artist (Heidegger, 2008). In that case, the real definition of art has an association with the fulfillment of some criteria, including the issue of the essence, aesthetics, the content, and the presentation of the content with regards to quality.

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There are various bases from which one can define art, as these views mainly come from western thought. In the first instance, mimetic theories define art as the act of imitating what is within nature. Plato stated that art is a copy of what one sees in nature, or at time nature itself. However, he infers that the recreation of nature is in various forms, which are meanings that are not seen from the surface as they are hidden (Heidegger, 2008). Secondly, from the expressionist theories, art is a representation of the inner existence of the creator. From the words of Leo Tolstoy, art is something which triggers a person to share what they feel inside of them. Most artists, including Van Gogh and Munch, accepted this explanation, as opposed to the one of imitating or interpreting nature (Heidegger, 2008). Thirdly, theorists of idealism claim that art is something that stems out of intuition, implying that it is a feeling that is made alive in a given form. From a philosophical point of view, it is an action by the spirit that is more than the materials and explanation behind its development. Fourthly, from a psychological point of view, art is something with a symbolic meaning that is hidden or an expression of ideas and desires that are concealed. Freud argued that artists were people who wanted to be recognized by everybody by becoming rich and famous, hence expressing what they want abstractly through art, hence disguising their emotions (Heidegger, 2008). Finally, from the pragmatic theory, art is something that bases its explanation on the consequence and function it portrays. A piece of artwork is interpreted depending on the effect that it has on the people who view it or the artist. From this definition, art can, therefore, imply many things that depend on the consequence it has on people. To one person, it can have a healing effect, while to another it may be a communication tool. While all these categories of definitions may be appropriate, the truth of the matter is that it only emphasizes the complexity that is associated with the definition of art (Heidegger, 2008).

The essence of art depends on the person viewing it, as the cases of interpretation vary from one individual to another. However, it is also worth noting that the discussion related to the essence of art is a difficult one considering that the real definition of art is also one that is unclear. However, one of the concepts of the essence of art is with regards to the issue of having a manmade touch in it. Hence, art is something that is something that is as a result of human skill. This definition is broad considering that it also brings in two more concepts of utilitarian and fine art, where the latter involves pieces such as paintings and drawings, literature, sculpture, dance, theater, and music (Danto, 1998). It is in the public domain from the examples that there is a difference between other manmade things and those that are considered as fine art based on their uniqueness. While that may be true, it is still difficult to create a difference between what is called fine art any other thing that is created by man. However, there is one criterion that can be used to differentiate between other things as made by man from fine art, and that is the concept of recreation. According to Ayn Rand in her works, the definition of art is that it is the recreation of reality in a selective manner based on the metaphysical value judgments of the creator or the artist (Danto, 1998). The judgment is mainly dependent on the material or medium used to create a piece of work. Selective art implies that man picks the aspects of reality which act as what and how they view the world and its existence. It also implies that man creates an edited version of something existing, in reality, using materials that are present in the real world. In other words, it is something that does not seem real but has some aspect of real thoughts in it. The metaphysical judgment implies that the artist creates art depending on what they regard as an essence to them, as that which does not have is not included in the works of art. Therefore, selective recreation is an emphasis on the metaphysical view (Danto, 1998).

The other criterion of art is that it must possess some form of quality as an essential factor. Quality is closely related to the issue of presentation and the content, considering that the artistic judgment of a piece of work depends on the appropriate level of the other. When looking at the quality of the art is also crucial to look at its novelty. In most cases, there are those who confuse the terms and use them interchangeably (Cavanagh, 2008). The two are distinctive terms, where the latter is about a popular attractiveness that a piece of art may have, but its importance gradually disappears after a given period. Contrary to that, the quality of the art is unpopular, despite the fact that it is about the development of the importance of a piece of art with the passing of time. It is the real truth that the artist presents based on what and how they feel about the metaphysical view of existence. The essence of quality depends on the ability to communicate rather than the surface values that a piece of work presents. The attainability criterion of producing quality relies on the ability of the artist to continually sacrifice with regards to successfully identifying the distinctive personality view (Cavanagh, 2008). An artist must communicate what they deeply feel, instead of what other people can easily see them from the surface. The expression of the artist needs to be independent of illusion and ego, as that is what drives art to have more of novelty as opposed to quality. The artwork needs to be something completely new, but allow itself to start aging from the moment it is encountered for the first time. New viewers should always gain a new experience every time they glance at the piece, irrespective of when the work was developed. It must have the ability to trigger a renewed sense of purpose, language, and knowledge, as that is the most essential concept of the quality of the art (Cavanagh, 2008).

Art is different from non-art from the fact that it has aesthetics, which is all about how people view art and what they experience when they do the same. In some cases, the term is used interchangeably with beauty, yet they are two different terms when studying art. Beauty encompasses some qualities of reason, including proportion, symmetry, and order, while aesthetics is more than that as it may also be about something that cannot rely on reason alone (Heidegger, 2008). Understanding aesthetics requires experience through emotions, feelings, and intuition. For instance, one could have mixed feelings including rage, grief, pleasure, joy, or even suffering. According to Immanuel Kant, aesthetics is all about prioritizing the form of art over its function. To him, beauty is something that is free from any object that it is attached to (Heidegger, 2008). He gave the example of a horse, where he stated that it may be beautiful, no matter whether it did well in a race or not. Knowledge is something that is created by the natural constitution of humans, besides the surface institutions that one experiences. Aesthetics creates an avenue for one to understand the intention of the artist when they were creating the piece of work, including the materials that they may have used in developing the same. The form of art is the basis from which the artist created the piece of work, including teleology and casualty, which form the structural existence means of humans (Cavanagh, 2008).

Art is a means of enhancing these forms through expression, hence giving them a value of perception that is intrinsic, hence creating an experience that is aesthetic. The expression of these forms is dependent on various principles, including balance, harmony, development, and centrality. All forms of art depict some form of unity that is related to these principles. For instance, harmony brings in unity from the fact that there is a recurrence in artwork, while balance attains unity by having concepts contrasting each other. The form of art must be in line with how it is expressed (Danto, 1998). The expression is more about the content that is depicted in the piece of work, which is also about the ideas and feelings that are beneath the surface of the work. In that case, the materials and the form of the art must allow for the expression of the art to those who view it.

The true meaning of art is complex as there various definitions that depend on the intrinsic perceptive that one has. As seen earlier, the considered definition of art will depend on the set criteria, which include the presence of aesthetics, the quality, and eth essence. Judging art from these perspectives gives a clear basis that is also universal depending on the several points of view. From the same, it is also true to state that meaning of art will remain the same eternally, as that is the only way of differentiating that which is art to that which is not.

References

Cavanagh, T. (2008). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Production. International Journal Of Technology And Human Interaction, 4(3), 217-251. doi: 10.4018/jthi.2008070102

Danto, A. (1998). The End of Art: A Philosophical Defense. History And Theory, 37(4), 127-143. doi: 10.1111/0018-2656.721998072

Heidegger, M. (2008). the Origin of the Work of Art. Epoche, 12(2), 18-86. doi: 10.5840/epoche20081227