Aesthetics

the philosophy of art

George MatthewsSpring 2016

What is art?

F Representation: Art imitates, mimics, copies, or otherwiserepresents something significant in reality.

F Form: Art is an exploration of “significant form” – composition,color, texture and other abstract elements of design regardless ofcontent.

F Expression: Art expresses emotions – our identification with thisemotional expression is the basis of the bonds that hold societytogether.

F Anything goes: Anything and everything can be art, inside oroutside of the confines of the official institutions of culture.

What is art?

F Representation: Art imitates, mimics, copies, or otherwiserepresents something significant in reality.

F Form: Art is an exploration of “significant form” – composition,color, texture and other abstract elements of design regardless ofcontent.

F Expression: Art expresses emotions – our identification with thisemotional expression is the basis of the bonds that hold societytogether.

F Anything goes: Anything and everything can be art, inside oroutside of the confines of the official institutions of culture.

What is art?

F Representation: Art imitates, mimics, copies, or otherwiserepresents something significant in reality.

F Form: Art is an exploration of “significant form” – composition,color, texture and other abstract elements of design regardless ofcontent.

F Expression: Art expresses emotions – our identification with thisemotional expression is the basis of the bonds that hold societytogether.

F Anything goes: Anything and everything can be art, inside oroutside of the confines of the official institutions of culture.

What is art?

F Representation: Art imitates, mimics, copies, or otherwiserepresents something significant in reality.

F Form: Art is an exploration of “significant form” – composition,color, texture and other abstract elements of design regardless ofcontent.

F Expression: Art expresses emotions – our identification with thisemotional expression is the basis of the bonds that hold societytogether.

F Anything goes: Anything and everything can be art, inside oroutside of the confines of the official institutions of culture.

What is art?

F Representation: Art imitates, mimics, copies, or otherwiserepresents something significant in reality.

F Form: Art is an exploration of “significant form” – composition,color, texture and other abstract elements of design regardless ofcontent.

F Expression: Art expresses emotions – our identification with thisemotional expression is the basis of the bonds that hold societytogether.

F Anything goes: Anything and everything can be art, inside oroutside of the confines of the official institutions of culture.

Art is representation.

The aim of art is to represent not theoutward appearance of things, buttheir inward significance.

Aristotle, Poetics

cave paintings at Lascaux, France, ca. 20,000 BCE

cave paintings at Lascaux, France, ca. 20,000 BCE

The first art depicted the animals our ancestors depended upon for food.

cave paintings at Lascaux, France, ca. 20,000 BCE

Representing them was an act of reverence as well as anattempt to enhance our power over them in the hunt.

Apollo of Belvedere, Greece – Roman copy of bronze original, 350-325 BCE

Apollo of Belvedere, Greece – Roman copy of bronze original, 350-325 BCE

The Greeks represented their gods as ideals to be emulated.

Giotto, “The Lamentation” 1305

Giotto, “The Lamentation” 1305

Representational art often depicts stories important toa culture and can be a way of educating and edifying.

[The purpose of drama is] to hold as’twere the mirror up to nature: toshow virtue her feature, scorn her ownimage, and the very age and body ofthe time his form and pressure.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Francisco Goya, “Lunatic Asylum” 1812-14

Francisco Goya, “Lunatic Asylum” 1812-14

Modern artists have also used the representational power ofart to highlight aspects of society often hidden from view.

Francisco Goya, “The 3rd of May, 1808” 1814

Francisco Goya, “The 3rd of May, 1808” 1814

Or to remind us of the forgotten victims of history.

Diane Arbus, “Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C.” 1962

Diane Arbus, “Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C.” 1962

Photography is not just the mechanical capturing of images,but has powerful representational possibilities.

Diane Arbus, “Identical twins, Roselle, N.J.” 1967

Diane Arbus, “Identical twins, Roselle, N.J.” 1967

Diane Arbus used photograpy to capture the lives,sorrows and joys of ordinary and unusual people.

Duane Hanson, “Self-Portrait With Model” 1979

Duane Hanson, “Self-Portrait With Model” 1979

Duane Hanson’s ultra-realistic sculptures depict ordinary people doing or-dinary things, taking the idea of art as imitation to its logical extreme.

Duane Hanson, “Old Couple on a Bench” 1994

Duane Hanson, “Old Couple on a Bench” 1994

Walking through an exhibit of these polyester resin sculpturesis an unsettlung experience as it is often difficult to tellwhether a figure is real or not without close inspection.

Art is form.

I see only forms that are lit up andforms that are not. There is only lightand shadow.

Francisco Goya, 1746-1828

David Smith, “Australia” 1951

David Smith, “Australia” 1951

David Smith was a pioneer in the explorationof the sculptural possibilities of welded iron and steel.

from the “Cubi” series, 1960’s

from the “Cubi” series, 1960’s

Over time his work became more abstract, focusedon the interplay of light, form, balance, symmetry.

Louise Nevelson, “Cathedral” 1958

Louise Nevelson, “Cathedral” 1958

Louise Nevelson created monumentalmonochromatic assemblages made of wood.

Louise Nevelson, “Mrs. N’s Palace” 1964-1977

Louise Nevelson, “Mrs. N’s Palace” 1964-1977

Her work focuses on a limited range of materials and almost obses-sively varies them in the search for interesting forms and textures.

My art is an attempt to reach beyondthe surface appearance. I want to seegrowth in wood, time in stone, naturein a city, and I do not mean its parksbut a deeper understanding that acity is nature too-the ground uponwhich it is built, the stone with whichit is made.

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy, from “Rivers and Tides” 2001

Andy Goldsworthy, from “Rivers and Tides” 2001

Andy Goldsworthy constructs artworks out of natural objects and materials.

Andy Goldsworthy, “Boulder” 1987

Andy Goldsworthy, “Boulder” 1987

All are temporary and preserved only in his photographs.

Andy Goldsworthy, 1999

Andy Goldsworthy, 1999

Goldsworthy’s work is as much about the processes of creation and naturaldecay as about the simple geometric forms he laboriously constructs.

Art is expression.

To evoke in oneself a feeling one hasonce experienced, and having evokedit in oneself, then by means ofmovements, lines, colors, sounds, orforms expressed in words, so totransmit that feeling that others mayexperience the same feeling – this isthe activity of art.

Leo Tolstoy, What is art?

Vincent van Gogh, “Wheat Field with Crows” 1890

Vincent van Gogh, “Wheat Field with Crows” 1890

Vincent van Gogh is probably the most well known artist towork in the expresionist mode. His bold colors and heavily

textured canvases helped redefine painting in the modern era.

Vincent van Gogh, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” 1889

Vincent van Gogh, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” 1889

His work was as much about his own inner turmoilas it was about the subject matter of his images.

Egon Schiele, “Self-Portrait with Black Vase and Spread Fingers, 1911

Egon Schiele, “Self-Portrait with Black Vase and Spread Fingers, 1911

Schiele’s distorted figures and stark formsevoke the anxiety of early 20th central Europe.

Edvard Munch, “The Scream” 1893

Edvard Munch, “The Scream” 1893

Even though it has been etensively copied and parodied,Munch’s iconic “Scream” still evokes uncomfotable emotions.

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock

The “action painting” of Jackson Pollock and other abstractexpressionists attempts to remove all thinking from the act of

artistic creation and express the raw emotion of the creative act.

Frank Kline, “Orange Outline” 1955

Frank Kline, “Orange Outline” 1955

Franz Kline’s monumental canvases evoke Asian calligraphy asthey walk the border between expressionism and formalism in art.

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled # 479”, 1975

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled # 479”, 1975

Cindy Sherman’s expressive photographic self-portraits oftencomment visually on social issues such as gender and sexuality.

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled # 89”, 1981

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled # 89”, 1981

Her somewhat creepy “anti-centerfolds” present adisturbing world of shattered dreams and frustrated hopes.

Anything goes.

Bansky, London 2011

Bansky, London 2011

Street art challenges the distinction between official art and vandalism.

Banksy, security wall West Bank, Palestine/Israel, 2005

Banksy, security wall West Bank, Palestine/Israel, 2005

It often has strong political content and takes place undercover of anonymity – the identity of “Banksy” is unknown.

Ben Wilson, 1963-

Ben Wilson, 1963-

Ben Wilson uses bits of old chewing gum on the side-walks of British cities as canvases for his tiny paintings.

Ben Wilson, 1963-

Ben Wilson, 1963-

He has done thousands of these miniature paintings alldestined to be worn away by footsteps and the weather.

Spencer Tunick, “Ireland 3 (Dublin)”, 2008

Spencer Tunick, “Ireland 3 (Dublin)”, 2008

Spencer Tunick often risks arrest for staging his large photoshootswith many volunteers posing naked in various outdoor settings.

Spencer Tunick, “Switzerland, Aletsch Glacier” 2007

Spencer Tunick, “Switzerland, Aletsch Glacier” 2007

Tunick’s striking images challenge our expectations and assumptionsabout the human body and it’s relation to the world we live in.

So what is art and why do wemake it?