Week 6: Defining Art? Three Approaches to Defining Art

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1 Week 6: Defining Art? Formalism & Aesthetic Attitude Three Approaches to Defining Art The artistic object itself Clive Bell Aesthetic experience of art John Dewey The social context of art George Dickie & Arthur Danto 1

2 Wassily Kandinsky ( ) Transverse Line, 1923 Kasmir Malevich ( ) Black Square, 1915 Piet Mondrian ( ) Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow,

3 Kandinsky Art Progresses Toward Abstraction Kandinsky believed art could awaken the capacity to experience the spiritual in material and abstract phenomena Kandinsky and Mondrian believed it was historically inevitable that art would progress towards abstraction. Kandinsky outlines his views in his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1914) Malevich The Supremacy of Forms under SuprematismI understand the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, meaningless. The significant thing is feeling as such, quite apart from the environment in which it is called forth -KazmirMalevich in From Cubism to Suprematism(1915) SuprematistComposition White on White (1917) 3

4 Abstract Art Challenges Aesthetics After two millennia of viewing art as imitation, many were unwilling to confer the status of Art to such works Philosophers and critics such as Clive Bell and Clement Greenberg set out to create definitions/normative theories which could accommodate such works. For either all works of visual art have some common quality, or when we speak of works of art we gibber. Everyone speaks of art, making a mental classification by which he distinguishes the class works of art from all other classes. What is the justification of this classification? What is the quality common and peculiar to all members of this class? Whatever it be, no doubt it is often found in company with other qualities: but they are adventitious it is essential. There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist: possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? -Clive Bell in Art(1914) 4

5 Defining Art: What is the Essence of Art? Essentialism: members of a class are characterized by an underlying principle or pattern which they all share but is peculiarto that class of objects. Such definitions must offer necessaryand sufficientconditions for membership in that class. Necessary & Sufficient Conditions Necessary Conditions Conditions that must be satisfied in order to fit the definition. But any single N.C. by itself, may not be enough Steering well is a N.C. for driving well. Being a mammal is a N.C. for being a human being. Sufficient Conditions Conditions that (if satisfied), are enough to fit the definition. Being a human is a S.C. for being a mammal Owning a car is a S.C. for owning a vehicle. 5

6 Do these works have representational/expressive content? Islamic Art Ellsworth Kelly Bach Clive Bell: Imitation and Expression Not Essential to Art Representational content (not a necessary condition) Not all art depicts persons, places, events, etc. Some art has representational content but this is strictly irrelevant to its status as Art. Expressive of emotion (not a necessary condition) Not all art has emotional content Some art may have emotional content but this is strictly irrelevant to its status as Art. 6

7 What is left? Significant Form To Bell, all art posses significant form. Significant form is both a necessary and sufficient condition to be a work of art Significant Form The play of striking arrangements of lines, colors, shapes, volumes, vectors and space (Carroll 87). Form vs. Significant Form What is the difference between form and significant form? Form becomes significantwhen it provokes aesthetic emotion. Note: Aesthetic emotion is a direct reaction to a works formal properties NOT a reaction to emotional content in a work. there is a particular kind of emotion provoked by works of visual art, and that this emotion is provoked by every kind of visual art is not disputed, I think, by anyone capable of feeling it -Clive Bell in Art 7

8 Aesthetic Emotion Bell never clearly defines aesthetic emotion but is clear that he believes this emotion is distinct from ordinary emotional states (ex. anger, joy, jealousy, etc.) Bell believes ordinary emotions are evoked by representational content, aesthetic emotion (what is unique to art) is only aroused by formal properties. Clive Bell s Aesthetic Theory: Formalism Formalism: The formal qualities of a work (such as line shape and color) are regarded as self-sufficient for its appreciation, and all other considerations (representational, ethical, social) are treated as secondary or redundant (Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists) Formalism is both a descriptive and normative theory of art. 8

9 The Impact of Formalism on Art and Aesthetics in the 20 th Century Devaluing of emotional and cognitive content: Visual art designed to express emotions or ideas were often dismissed as mere illustrations. Artist statements & biographies were thought to detract from appreciation of formal qualities. Fueled the rise of Modern Art :as philosophers, art critics and curators adopted formalism as their guiding theory museums and art dealers sought abstract works and marginalized others. Jackson Pollock ( ) Number 1,

10 Clement Greenberg Formalist Art Critic Art critic and follower of Bell, Clement Greenberg shocked the U.S. public by boldly declaring in Time Magazine that Jackson Pollock was the greatest living painter in the United States and David Smith to be America s only major sculptor. David Smith, Cubi XIX (1964) Critiques of Formalism S.F. is circular The definition of significant form is viciously circular Neither aesthetic emotion nor significant form can be defined independently, and therefore lacks intelligible content. What is provoked by significant form Aesthetic emotion is Significant form is What provokes aesthetic emotion 10

11 Critiques of Formalism Significant Form is not a sufficient condition for Art Logicians and Mathematicians often report finding some theorems and proofs to be elegant or beautiful even when they express no content. If non-art objects can possess significant form than S.F. cannot be a sufficient condition for art. Critique of Formalism For some works content cannot be separated from Form With some works, representative content and knowledge of certain styles/conventions will actually alter how one views the formal composition of the work. If representational content cannot be meaningfully separated from form then formalism fails. 11

12 Caravaggio ( ) Entombment of Christ, 1603 Pieter Brueghel ( ) Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,

13 Can you separate content from form? Form A little learning a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There Shallow droughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. -Alexander Pope Content (paraphrased) People who know only a little amount about a given subject, often think themselves to be experts because they do not yet understand the complexity of this subject. Therefore they may say or do rash things based on their limited knowledge. Getting to a subject more deeply however, often makes one more intellectually humble. The artistic object itself Clive Bell Aesthetic experience of art John Dewey The social context of art George Dickie Too Narrow? 13

14 John Dewey and Unified Experience John Dewey ( ) rejected Bell s narrow definition of Art. The hallmark of art is not merely form, it is experience and aesthetic experiences can be found in art, nature, thinking, and everyday life. Experience vs. Having an Experience As organisms in our natural environment we are always in a flow of experience. But sometimes we have an experience memorable moments that have a beginning and end and are characterized by a sense of unity and completeness. These moments serve as an enduring memorial to the thing experienced. All experiences of this kind have an aesthetic quality. 14

15 Aesthetic Attitude Theories Dewey s Aesthetics fits within a larger trend in 19 th and 20 th century aesthetics which argued that anything can be the focus of an aesthetic experience. When an artifact provokes (or is created to provoke) an aesthetic experience in one approaching it with the correct attitude, this is sufficient to make it Art. What is Aesthetic Attitude? (18 th Century) disinterested attention -not allowing selfishness or bias to effect one s judgment. (Edward Bullough) Psychical Distance akin to physical distance; just as one can only appreciate a storm from a distance, one can only appreciate art when ones emotions are not overcome by the experience. 15

16 What is Aesthetic Attitude? (Jerome Stolniz& EliseoVivas) Aesthetic Attitude-One should only be concerned with the aesthetic object itself and not it s social, political, or historical aspects. *Aesthetic Attitude theories have a normative aspect. Since proper attitude is essential to the works status as art, works are judged by how well they encourage psychical distance and a disinterested attitude. Aestheticians throw a tantrum over Peter Pan Sheila Dawson condemned the play Peter Pan because of a scene that broke distance by asking the children to clap if they believe in fairies. Dawson calls it a acutely miserable moment when most children would like to slink out of the theater and not a few cry not because Tinkerbelle may die but because the magic is gone. Dawson later admitted that children love the scene. 16

17 Over-distancing vs. Under-distancing Over-distancing: being so removed from the content of a work to appreciate its meaning (ex. film student is paying attention to the technical aspects of a film and missing the story itself) Under-distancing: One is too emotionally involved to appreciate its meaning (ex. a jealous husband who can t sympathize with Othello because it reminds him of his own suspicions of infidelity) Critique of Psychical Distance Both previous examples can be explained simply in terms of attention and not any special kind of distanced attention The film student is guilty of not paying attention to all the aesthetically relevant aspects of the film. The husband is paying too much attention to his own feelings. 17

18 Critique of Disinterested Attention (Example 1) Ann the Music Major: Ann is listening to a symphony for the purpose of writing a paper for her music history class. (Example 2) Bob the Batchelor: Bob sees a painting whose subject reminds him of an old girlfriend. He begins to muse on good times now past. Both are supposedly failing to maintain disinterested attention butagain, this doesn t need to be explained as a special type of attention only a lapse or shift in focus. Critique of Disinterested Attention Once the notion of disinterested and distanced attention is demystified we can then see why social/political content or ulterior interests in a work are not necessarily a problem. They do need not break our appreciation of the piece, they simply focus our attention in different ways to different aspects of the work. 18

19 Critiques of Aesthetic Attitude Other considerations do have a bearing on our enjoyment or appreciation of a piece (ex. the historical context, challenges of working with the materials, or their properties) and on what aesthetic properties we ascribe to them. Francisco Goya ( ) 19

20 The Central Problem in Aesthetics Every attempt at defining what counts as art" can be challenged with numerous counterexamples. no theory of this sort has met with universal or even very widespread, approval [the philosophers definitions]have all had as many critics as advocates. Philosophical fashion has for a time seized upon some favored theory, but almost at the same time problems have been detected (Graham 224) 20