The Accidental Theorist

  Clive Bell argued that all artworks share a defining quality, a feature that sets them apart from ordinary objects and defines them as art. He called this quality Significant Form. For Bell, Significant Form refers to the particular combination of lines, shapes, forms, and colors that together create a specific aesthetic emotion in the viewer. This response is what Bell argues decides whether something is art or not. Because of this, Bell believes that what an artwork depicts, and whether it is done realistically or representationally, is irrelevant to its value. Subject matter does not matter. What does matter is the artwork’s ability to produce the aesthetic emotion that comes only from viewing Significant Form. In Bell’s view, this emotional response is the true measure of artistic value. If Bell’s theory is correct, then people across cultures should be able to look at the same artwork and appreciate it, even if they cannot relate to its subject matter or symbolism. For B...

  John Dewey believed that art was a process based in interaction. The first interaction happens between the artist and their materials, the experimentation and discovery they experience during the creation process. The second interaction is when a viewer encounters the finished work and brings their own perceptions, emotions and interpretations to it. In his view, art is not solely the final object but the entire creative process, imagining an idea, engaging with materials, adapting to challenges and ultimately bringing the vision to life. An artwork is the record of this process not just the end result. Dewey also argued that modern museum culture has taken art, something he believed to be a shared experience, and turned it into something distant and elitist. He criticized the notion that art is separate from everyday life, something to be treated as rare or superior. In museums, artworks are often removed from their original contexts, placed on bare walls, and accompanied by m...

  Plato had three main criticisms of art. First, he argued that art is twice removed from reality because it imitates the physical world, which according to him is itself a copy of what he referred to as true forms. Second, he believed that art had the power to stir up strong emotions in its audience. Finally, because of this emotional influence, he argued that art could have a negative moral impact on individuals and society. According to Plato, art is a form of mimesis or imitation. He believed “they offered mere imitations of things in our world, which themselves were copies of the Ideas.” (Freeland, ch.2) When we look at art, we are not encountering a truthful representation but a deceptive likeness that takes us further away from true understanding. For Plato, art could mislead the audience into mistaking an illusion for reality and even suggests that artists themselves lack true understanding of what they are depicting. Plato also argued that art could provoke strong emotions...

  Andy Warhol, Del Monte Peach Halves Box , 1964 Pop Art wanted to make viewers question the traditional concepts of high art by incorporating mass produced commercialized images into fine art. By drawing inspiration from popular culture and commercialism, Pop artists challenged the established norms in the art world. Arthur Danto, seeing art like Roy Lichtenstein’s The Kiss and Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes , developed his theory that recognizing something as art requires more than just seeing it. According to Danto, for an object to become art it has to fit within a framework of theory and historical understanding. These works are art because they have an audience who understands them and is capable of interpreting them to be art. In a 2006 podcast interview, Danto stated, “To see something as art one had to know something about the recent theory and history of art. Warhol’s box seemed to me enfranchised by the theory and history of Pop, which excluded Harvey’s boxes except as ...

Lee Krasner, The Eye is the First Circle      Aristotle believed that imitation is a natural human act, one that helps us understand the world from our earliest years. As children, we learn to speak, write and behave by imitating what we see around us. Many artists begin in exactly the same way, by simply drawing what is in front of them. Imitation is foundational in learning. This belief that imitation has educational power led Aristotle to defend tragedy. He argued that by watching others confront difficult situations, we learn to recognize and process our own emotions. Through watching another’s struggles we can come to a better understanding of our own emotions. Catharsis is precisely this- a therapeutic release that allows us to explore and process complex emotions. It can take many forms, but Aristotle focused on the viewer’s experience of catharsis. He argued that witnessing how a person confronts adversity, it brings up emotions of fear and pity in the viewer of t...

  For most of the history of art, artists created their works primarily for others. Their work served clear purpose, external to their own creative process. They made works recording historical events, adorning public spaces, completing works for paying patrons, or competing in public exhibitions. These systems were not only cultural but also economic. Creating for audiences, like patrons, was how they made and secured their livelihood. Over time, however, a shift started to emerge. Art increasingly became valued for its own sake, and artists gained more freedom to experiment with what and how they created. They could choose the subjects, explore personal interests and experiment outside the pressure of a patron’s expectations. Yet, even with this newfound freedom, a familiar pressure still existed: their work still needed to be marketable. Creative freedom expanded, but it continued to coexist with the reality of the pressure of producing art that could be bought. When we talk abo...

  Bodily fluids have been used in artistic practices for centuries. Some of the earliest known artworks used pigments mixed with animal blood or saliva as binding agents, and blood has been used in a symbolic way in depictions of rituals, sacrifices and war. Civilizations such as the Aztecs even created elaborate vessels to hold the blood collected during sacrifices. While these practices often emerged from necessity or because of religious beliefs, the use of bodily fluids in art has taken on new meanings in recent years. In modern and contemporary art, the use of materials such as blood, spit, urine, and sweat, among others, has become increasingly visible. These substances are often used for their ability to provoke strong reactions. In a world crowded with artists and artworks, unconventional materials like these can serve as a strategy to command attention, spark controversy and shift the narrative toward the work. Artists, especially women artists, have begun using menstrual ...

      HUME Hume believed that taste was subjective. That each person’s individual taste came from a variety of sources. We have all had different personal experiences throughout life, we have different cultures, backgrounds, and education. This leads us to have different preferences, different levels of emotional sensitivity and different prejudices. When we are all so varied, how could we ever hope to have the same preference in what the standard of taste should be. Hume stated that while taste is subjective, he does believe that there are some chosen few of us who have the qualities needed to judge taste. These people possess certain abilities, those being, the ability to notice subtleties, exposure to many works of art, the ability to compare works, impartiality, and a general good sense.   The question arises then of who is judging the judges? Who gets to decide who the chosen few are? A question that arose when I was pondering Hume and his work, is how...