Untitled Document

What Defines “Art?” What defines Art? Is there a common element that allows us to categorize everything with that element art? What is the difference between this image of Paul Cornoyer (first picture) and this of Thomas Kinkade (second picture)? Why do people in the artworld consider Cornoyer a true artist, while Kinkade is seen as a cheap purveyor of kitsch? While the cultural elite think of Kinkade as no artist at all, he is simultaneously the most popular American painter. For the millions of fans that buy Kinkade’s mass-produced paintings he is an artist? Who is right? Can both be right? Both wrong? Can we discover rules to help us decide what is and is not art? ------------------------
Wie definiert man “Kunst?” Was definiert Kunst? Gibt es ein gemeinsames Merkmal, das es uns erlaubt, ein Objekt als “Kunst” zu kategorisieren? Was zum Beispiel ist der Unterschied zwischen diesem Bild von Paul Cornoyer (erste Bild) und diesem von Thomas Kinkade (zweite Bild). Warum betrachtet man Paul Cornoyer als einen erfolgreichen wahren Künstler, während man Thomas Kinkade als billigen ‘Kitschkünstler’ abtut. Der kulturellen Elite nach ist Kinkade kein wahrer Künstler, gleichzeitig ist er jedoch der populärste amerikanische Maler. Für die Millionen, die seine Malereien kaufen, ist er ein Künstler. Wer hat recht? Können beide recht haben? Können wir Regeln entwickeln, die uns helfen, zu entscheiden was Kunst ist?

What Defines “Art?”

What defines Art? Is there a common element that allows us to categorize everything with that element art? What is the difference between this image of Paul Cornoyer (first picture) and this of Thomas Kinkade (second picture)? Why do people in the artworld consider Cornoyer a true artist, while Kinkade is seen as a cheap purveyor of kitsch? While the cultural elite think of Kinkade as no artist at all, he is simultaneously the most popular American painter. For the millions of fans that buy Kinkade’s mass-produced paintings he is an artist? Who is right? Can both be right? Both wrong? Can we discover rules to help us decide what is and is not art?

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Wie definiert man “Kunst?”

Was definiert Kunst? Gibt es ein gemeinsames Merkmal, das es uns erlaubt, ein Objekt als “Kunst” zu kategorisieren? Was zum Beispiel ist der Unterschied zwischen diesem Bild von Paul Cornoyer (erste Bild) und diesem von Thomas Kinkade (zweite Bild). Warum betrachtet man Paul Cornoyer als einen erfolgreichen wahren Künstler, während man Thomas Kinkade als billigen ‘Kitschkünstler’ abtut. Der kulturellen Elite nach ist Kinkade kein wahrer Künstler, gleichzeitig ist er jedoch der populärste amerikanische Maler. Für die Millionen, die seine Malereien kaufen, ist er ein Künstler. Wer hat recht? Können beide recht haben? Können wir Regeln entwickeln, die uns helfen, zu entscheiden was Kunst ist?

Plato (427-347 BCE) says that the function of art is representation and that the most perfect work is the one that best recreates the physical reality of the subject. According to this definition Cornoyer would be closer to an artist by Plato’s standard. While Plato would view impressionism as a step backwards from the realist ideal of the earlier periods, Cornoyer’s work has a more realistic color palette than the similarly impressionistic work of Kinkade. Yet Plato banishes the art from his Republic on the grounds that art is essentially a distraction. If the shadow world of “the Forms” we all inhabit is below the the metaphysical reality, then art, whose purpose is to reflect the lower unreality, is even further from the true state, and thus a negative influence on society. ------------------------
Clive Bell (1881-1964) says that what really defines art is not the historical context or knowledge about the psychological state of the artist when she or he created it. All that matters is “Significant Form,” the combination of lines and colors to produce emotion. His theory allowed abstract art and ancient art to gain widespread acceptance among critics and audiences. By his definition of art, these two works must be judged entirely without regard to their history, subject matter, or even the painter who painted them. You could not even view them in light of each other, despite the relative similarity of subject matter and style. Each must be judged as its own entity. According to Bell, all that could be gained from these works would be constant throughout history. So viewing Cornoyer’s work at the start of this millenium would be the same experience as viewing the work at the start of the last millenium, if viewed according to Bell’s thesis in both instances. Bell’s method of judging artworks is ultimately naive and idealistic for the simple principle that there is no understanding that is not relational. Nothing is tall by itself, it can only be taller than something else. Therefore, no artwork can be effective in a vacuum, but requires other artworks to define it. ------------------------
Arthur Danto (1924-present) says that there is no definition of art. “Art” is only that which is defined by a suitably empowered spokesperson who elects certain works for the public’s consideration as artworks and puts forth a set of aspects about it for the consideration of the viewer for appreciation. Unlike Bell, Danto sees an artwork as defined by its relationship with all other artworks throughout history. The only way to understand a work is through the atmosphere of theory surrounding the work that puts it in a historical lineage of art, with overlapping relational properties. All theories before Danto’s had tried to discover one essential property shared by all artworks. Danto says there is not one property, that one can see the lineage from a Grecian Urn to a Flash animation by analyzing the historical lineage, even though these two pieces may share not a single common property. This allows art to not be defined by one essential property. So, according to Danto how should Cornoyer’s and Kinkade’s work be viewed? This is easy, since his theory is essentially a description of how the system currently functions. A suitably empowered spokesperson, a museum curator, would elect Cornoyer’s work for the public’s consideration. ------------------------
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) says “STOP IT!” Stop trying to intellectualize art, humanity’s one saving grace from intellectualization. Nietzsche says that language allows us to control and rationalize all that is uncontrollable and irrational, life itself. Art represents our best avenue for escape from Plato’s legacy of rationality embodied in language. Nietzsche would say that to try to analyze these paintings and verbalize how they make us feel is counterproductive. They can be useful only to the extent to which they get us in touch with the dionysian rather than the apollian side. ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plato (427-347 BCE) says that the function of art is representation and that the most perfect work is the one that best recreates the physical reality of the subject. According to this definition Cornoyer would be closer to an artist by Plato’s standard. While Plato would view impressionism as a step backwards from the realist ideal of the earlier periods, Cornoyer’s work has a more realistic color palette than the similarly impressionistic work of Kinkade. Yet Plato banishes the art from his Republic on the grounds that art is essentially a distraction. If the shadow world of “the Forms” we all inhabit is below the the metaphysical reality, then art, whose purpose is to reflect the lower unreality, is even further from the true state, and thus a negative influence on society.

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Clive Bell (1881-1964) says that what really defines art is not the historical context or knowledge about the psychological state of the artist when she or he created it. All that matters is “Significant Form,” the combination of lines and colors to produce emotion. His theory allowed abstract art and ancient art to gain widespread acceptance among critics and audiences. By his definition of art, these two works must be judged entirely without regard to their history, subject matter, or even the painter who painted them. You could not even view them in light of each other, despite the relative similarity of subject matter and style. Each must be judged as its own entity. According to Bell, all that could be gained from these works would be constant throughout history. So viewing Cornoyer’s work at the start of this millenium would be the same experience as viewing the work at the start of the last millenium, if viewed according to Bell’s thesis in both instances. Bell’s method of judging artworks is ultimately naive and idealistic for the simple principle that there is no understanding that is not relational. Nothing is tall by itself, it can only be taller than something else. Therefore, no artwork can be effective in a vacuum, but requires other artworks to define it.

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Arthur Danto (1924-present) says that there is no definition of art. “Art” is only that which is defined by a suitably empowered spokesperson who elects certain works for the public’s consideration as artworks and puts forth a set of aspects about it for the consideration of the viewer for appreciation. Unlike Bell, Danto sees an artwork as defined by its relationship with all other artworks throughout history. The only way to understand a work is through the atmosphere of theory surrounding the work that puts it in a historical lineage of art, with overlapping relational properties. All theories before Danto’s had tried to discover one essential property shared by all artworks. Danto says there is not one property, that one can see the lineage from a Grecian Urn to a Flash animation by analyzing the historical lineage, even though these two pieces may share not a single common property. This allows art to not be defined by one essential property. So, according to Danto how should Cornoyer’s and Kinkade’s work be viewed? This is easy, since his theory is essentially a description of how the system currently functions. A suitably empowered spokesperson, a museum curator, would elect Cornoyer’s work for the public’s consideration.

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Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) says “STOP IT!” Stop trying to intellectualize art, humanity’s one saving grace from intellectualization. Nietzsche says that language allows us to control and rationalize all that is uncontrollable and irrational, life itself. Art represents our best avenue for escape from Plato’s legacy of rationality embodied in language. Nietzsche would say that to try to analyze these paintings and verbalize how they make us feel is counterproductive. They can be useful only to the extent to which they get us in touch with the dionysian rather than the apollian side.

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