I resist to define art

·          Art is self expression. Art is the expression on people,places and things and should be left to everyone their own definition. The arts communicate on different levels and are open to a number of interpretations. If a person remembers a particular work of art,  and returns to it frequently within their mind, than that same work of art may communicate varied ways of its meaning, endlessly.   What makes art is everything related to the work itself. Any attempt to define this would almost certainly either exclude a significant amount of art or include everything that has, does, will, or could exist. There are so many different types of art. So many different levels. Different people view different things as art so the definition varies from person to person. I think its one of the most complex words within the english language due to the fact that there are endless interpretations of this one word and concept. Defining art would be a task that no one could be able to do due to the fact that they will never be able to set a specific set of conditions that will include every art form within the world, from the Mona Lisa to a tattoo on my best friends arm, art is  something that is in the eye of the beholding ( not to sound cliche or anything). Overall I have decided that I will not define art in any way. 

I resist to define art because

·          Art is self expression. Art is the expression on people,places and things and should be left to everyone their own definition. The arts communicate on different levels and are open to a number of interpretations. If a person remembers a particular work of art,  and returns to it frequently within their mind, than that same work of art may communicate varied ways of its meaning, endlessly.   What makes art is everything related to the work itself. Any attempt to define this would almost certainly either exclude a significant amount of art or include everything that has, does, will, or could exist. There are so many different types of art. So many different levels. Different people view different things as art so the definition varies from person to person. I think its one of the most complex words within the english language due to the fact that there are endless interpretations of this one word and concept. Defining art would be a task that no one could be able to do due to the fact that they will never be able to set a specific set of conditions that will include every art form within the world, from the Mona Lisa to a tattoo on my best friends arm, art is  something that is in the eye of the beholding ( not to sound cliche or anything). Overall I have decided that I will not define art in any way. 

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Throughout this semester...

Over this past semester we have sat within the confines of 209 and listened to many philosophers theories of how to define art. I have sat in on most of this discussions and I have yet to see a theorist who has been able to concretely define art in its entirety. As I sat down and read through th different attempts at defining art, I realized that even when placed together these theories could not adequately define art. After researching the theories that I thought had the most potential I came up with the realization that art truly can never and will never be defined, due to the fact that it is the individual who decides what art truly is and what art is not. There can never be a universal set of conditions of what art is nor will there ever be an exact definition, it is much to open for interpretation. Therefore as you will read in my next blog entry, I resist to define art.

Throughout this semester...

Over this past semester we have sat within the confines of 209 and listened to many philosophers theories of how to define art. I have sat in on most of this discussions and I have yet to see a theorist who has been able to concretely define art in its entirety. As I sat down and read through th different attempts at defining art, I realized that even when placed together these theories could not adequately define art. After researching the theories that I thought had the most potential I came up with the realization that art truly can never and will never be defined, due to the fact that it is the individual who decides what art truly is and what art is not. There can never be a universal set of conditions of what art is nor will there ever be an exact definition, it is much to open for interpretation. Therefore as you will read in my next blog entry, I resist to define art.

How the essential topics of creativity, knowledge and imagination relate.

I believe that the relationship between imagination and knowledge begins with instinct and ends with wisdom. My understanding on how these essential topics relate is that it all begins with an instinct one's natural way of going about things. This instinct leads to intuition which is very similar to one's instinctual responses to things, the intuition is an instinctual feeling about something whether it be an event or a certain situation. Intuition leads to feeling certain emotions, such as fear or anxiety. Emotion derives from creativity and understanding, in order for one to recognize what one feels one must first understand the emotion, and from there one can use creativity to channel that emotion into more useful outlets of expression such as art. Creativity derives from imagination and understanding comes from knowledge. In order for one to be creative one must have imagination, imagination enables a person to think outside the normal and look into different form of expression as well as different ways to gain knowledge. In order for one to truly understand something one must have previous knowledge of that certain topic. All these elements combined create the element of wisdom, wisdom is reached when one is able to combine the elements of imagination and knowledge flawlessly in everyday life.  

Art as a process and art as an imaginary object

He I believe that the artistic process that an artist undergoes is one that helps them discover the emotion they are feeling at that moment in time. I do believe that in order for one to truly understand what they are feeling they must go through some sort of process that will enlighten them. For example if one is feels upset, one will usually cry or lash out at someone in order to release that emotion and through that process of release they will realize that they are truly sad.  I also agree with the fact that the physical manifestation that the artist creates will not be identical to what they have actually envisioned, although I believe this to be true, I do not believe that a piece of art should be seen as an imaginary object. I think that it should be viewed as a physical interpretation of an artist’s emotional state at that moment in time.  When thinking of this theory I was reminded of a study I was reading on art therapy and schizophrenic patients. Patients with Schizophrenia were told to use art as a form of release as well as a way for them to show their therapists what they were truly seeing within their minds. The art work they created was truly shocking, the way they perceived regular objects within our world was staggering. This is a reason why I believe that art work should be seen as a physical interpretation of the emotional state of that artist in that moment and time. 


Here is a work of art done by artist Louis Wain who was a popular postcard and children's book illustrator. He was known for his drawings of cats within various children;'s books and postcards. Wain developed schizophrenia later in life and was never able to recover from the mental illness, this drawing was made after his schizophrenia was diagnosed and he began to experience the side affects of the disease. 

Collingwood's thoery on what art is

Collingwood’s theory of art is based around two central claims; he states that art is merely an imaginary object and that it is only exists within the mind of the artist who has created it. Also that the work of art the artist has created is truly an expression of the artists inner emotions.  Collingwood believes that art objects are imaginary because they only exist within the mind of the artist; there can not be an identical replication of what the artist is truly envisioning. There can only be a physical manifestation that the artist utilizes in order for others to be able to experience the work of art. Unlike other theorist Collingwood states his belief that art is made to in order for an artist to reach self-acknowledgement. He also believes that as human beings we often do not know the emotion that we are feeling at the moment it arises; we go through a process in which we are able to recognize the emotion. Artist’s, in his mind work in a similar manner, in order for them to realize the emotion that they are experiencing they go through an artistic process in which they create a work of art.  He makes it a point to state that this process is merely for the artist alone, and that the artist aims to create an individual thing. He also mentions that physical entities that are viewed as works of art are not “art proper”