Pamela H

AP English II

Culminating experience paper

A Final Glance at Art

             The concept of art is a slippery one, and it is not easily explained.   It is universally accepted as an escape, an outlet for creativity and emotion, a respectable hobby.  But ultimately, the what, why, and how of art is difficult to pinpoint because there is nothing else in existence that is truly similar to art.  The media of art serve as portals through which reality glimpses into the separate world of art, as a sort of figurative “bronzing” of a moment in time.  Additionally, all art has a purpose separate from function, which simply is to evoke emotion; how well a piece of art carries out its purpose is what determines the quality of it.  Quality is measured by various components and is the definitive factor that makes a work of art immortal or simply temporarily “all the rage.”  These characteristics define the entirety of art.

             Art is both a mental and physical existence.  There is reality, and then there is the limitless world of art, which is concurrent with our world.  Artwork, as the only inhabitant of both worlds, is the only evidence we have of the intangible art world.  The medium of a piece of art is like a sieve that funnels a particular section of the art world into reality, similar to any other immaterial concept such as love or justice.  All abstracts are known to exist via use of a vessel, which is typically a person.  In art’s case, the vessel is the artist, who takes a mental concept and projects it to a physical medium, thus creating art.

Art does not begin and end simply where the medium is.  A painting may sit inside a frame, but it is simply a moment being portrayed, like a movie put on pause.    There is always a background to a work of art, but the artist chooses the perfect moment to freeze-frame and embellish because art is the ideal, turning its back on the mundane and glorifying its subjects.  (What was it about her that made da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa, and not someone else?  Already, the artistic choices on subject automatically heightens the object of attention in the artwork from the get-go.)  At the start, an artist makes the artistic choice to focus on one passage of time he wants to create.  The art encompasses everything inside the medium — every syllable, every brushstroke, every drumbeat — but also what is unseen.  The ending to a book is made powerful when the artist knows where it is that even one more sentence is one too many; the whole effect is created with artistically wise decisions and a mind’s eye for minutiae.  This is why grabbing the perfect moment is crucial to the success of a piece of art; it has to be precisely what the artist wants to portray, with no extra frills and also no missing pieces.  Then, when this moment is carefully chosen, it is caught forever in the medium, like a fly trapped in amber for eternity, or a pair of old baby shoes covered over in bronze.  The story behind the fly and the shoes is unseen but extend past the amber and bronze, the way that the subtle background behind pieces of art do.

Why art exists is a question of purpose; at its rawest state, art’s raison d’être is to evoke some kind of feeling from its audience.  Art can be divided into two parts: the artist’s part of art is in the creation, where he is the projector of ideas into form.  The second part is what causes art to flourish: the audience’s emotional reaction to the piece.  Emotion is the fuel of all art; without it, art would not exist.  Artists create art out of some inner need and desire to express or invoke some kind of emotion, for whatever reason: to fill a void, to escape, to pay tribute to someone or something.  Art can be therapeutic in a sense, but not necessarily.  What is necessary is for the inspiration of art to be emotionally stirring, since art is anything but the unremarkably ordinary.  When the inspiration runs out and the artistic process continues, art is created, and then it is up to the audience to determine the quality of the art.  Remarkable art is typically stunning, an emotionally shocking experience that jolts the audience out of everyday thoughts.  But art does not need to scare as much as it simply needs to cause response.  With art, everything is subjective, and so it begs to be critiqued.  It needs people to draw opinions; even vehement hatred to a piece of art is a better compliment than no opinion at all.  No opinion implies an apathetic neutrality, which tells us that piece of art is not at all outstanding.  Where there is audience impartiality, there shows a failure of purpose in art.

Purpose, however, is an altogether separate entity from function.  Function can be included in art, as long as the art is able to stand on its own without the function getting in its way.  When art gives way to its function, instead of the other way around, then it is no longer art.  Function is an optional detail to art that should be inferior to the art itself.  Architecture is a form of art, though buildings function as something other than aestheticism, but some architecture is more artsy than others.  An impractical home is ideally not the best kind of house to live in, but if it was meant to be art first and foremost, then it is art.  Art oftentimes negates practicality, as it is based upon emotions and emotions are very commonly irrational.  Consequently, a conventional house with nice décor is simply a building with pretty adornment because that decoration cannot stand alone, and the house was not built upon artistic intentions.  With art, intention means everything.  If the intent was to create art and also include function, so be it, but the art must override the function.

Once art is made, there is still a question of quality: what makes some art worthwhile and other art not?  There is technique, which is the most objective way to judge artistic quality, though it is the least important of all factors.  Since art is purely emotional, art practiced with flawless technique will still mean nothing to anyone if there were no feelings behind it.  The best example is that of a dancer; a ballerina can dance perfectly, with exceptional deftness, but there is something inexplicably lacking if she dances without heart.  The emptiness of feeling is what art fears most, not imperfect technique — art can still be very substantial without flawless construction.  Skill does demonstrate a devotion to perfectionism, but as art is not just about mechanics, it is also about bending rules and reaching beyond the expected.  Art is the product of creativity, and it’s no good if there is no evidence of said creativity in it.  Creativity in this sense is in relation to originality.  The purpose of art is never new — ideas are recycled, but the way the artist demonstrates this purpose is what makes the borrowed idea later his own.  Quality is further determined by aforementioned precision, but one must be careful with this concept because art is also quite “perfect.”  Perfection is the epitome of what something strives to be and the sense of full completion of that.  The emotion involved with art is the only for art to be, and so art is perfect because there is no right or wrong way for art to be.  Art takes any form and is a projection of internal thoughts, which don’t always make complete sense or follow logical order, so art needs no excuse for being nonsensical or unrecognizable, as long as the artist intended it that way.  But this does not mean that art cannot be improved, as thoughts and intentions change and mature, which gives the artist license to revise.  Revision is what sets art apart from inspiration — it is purposeful, intended, and what makes the art “perfect.”  Other factors that determine quality include level of provocation (does it somehow excite the audience?), timelessness, and potential for immortality.  Remarkable art is more often than not better art than conventional art because it stimulates the audience.  A sense of timelessness trapped within the frozen moment that art portrays leads to everlasting appreciation throughout time, e.g., a piece of art that conveys the feeling of anticipation will always be understood throughout the generations.  The more universal the purpose of the art, the more timeless it is.  Lastly, the most important determinant of art’s quality is its capacity for immortality.  The artist must be found throughout the artwork without physically being in it; when that is done successfully, the artist forever lives through the artwork, even after he has passed on.  Whatever he was thinking, expressing or feeling will stay eternally in his art because he put some part of his soul into it.  The true claim to immortality lies in the artist’s presence inside the piece, when aspects of his feelings are clearly woven into the artwork.  Once all of these components are taken to account, the good or bad quality of art can be fully determined.

Perhaps one of the most unique, alluring, and independent concepts that has always existed is that of art.  It is most difficult to define because it is boundless and subjective.  The little word “art” sounds simple, but it is like an onion: to get to the very core of it, one must peel back its many layers (and you might even cry during the process!).  Art is characterized by several things, which makes it altogether very complex and quite abstract.  Once those numerous artistic ingredients are identified and therefore utilized in aesthetic criticism, then we are truly ready to answer “What is art?”