Music, dance, literature, film and the visual arts are each
capable of provoking the full range of human responses. Specific works of art may elicit a sense of
wonder or cynicism, hope or despair, adoration or spite. Other axes provide qualitative polarities. The work of art may be direct or complex,
subtle or explicit, intelligible or obscure.
The subjects and approaches to the creation of art are bounded only by
the imagination of the artist.
Consequently, I believe that defining art based upon its
representational content is a doomed enterprise.
A frequent
theme in aesthetics is the claim that there is a detachment or distance between
works of art and the flow of patterns in everyday life. Works of art rise like islands from current
of more pragmatic concerns. Kant talked
about a detached or special attitude when making judgments about beauty.
I prefer a
functional account of art. There is
little time to argue in 400 words, so let me lay it out. When you step out of a river and onto an island,
you come to a stop. Similarly, the
special or aesthetic attitude requires one to treat some experience as an
end-in-itself. Art asks us to arrive
empty and simply attend to the way in which we experience the work of art. This aesthetic experience answers the
question, “What do I experience in my encounter with this artifact?” The benefit of reflection should be beyond
question in a group of philosophers!
While a
person can have an aesthetic experience of a natural scene, flavor or texture,
art is produced. Art is the intentional
communication of an experience as an end-in-itself. The content of that experience may determine
whether the artwork is popular or ridiculed, significant or trivial, but it is art
either way.
One of the
initial reactions to this approach is that it seems overly broad. An older brother who sneaks up behind his
younger sibling and shouts, “Booo!” can be said to be creating art. But isn’t the difference between this example
and a Freddy Krueger movie just one of degree?
On the other hand my approach would exclude visual graphics used in
advertising or political propaganda as they are created as a means to an end.
Furthermore,
“Communication” is not the best word for what I have in mind because it implies
an unwarranted intentionality about the content represented. Aesthetic responses are often
underdetermined.
Mike Mallory
#aesthetics
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