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A Definition Of Art
by
Yadira P. Romero
Have you ever asked yourself what is art? What constitutes art? What art means to you? In the Random House Webster's Dictionary "Art" is defined as the production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful; also, as objects subject to aesthetic (visual) criteria as paintings, and skilled workmanship or execution. I asked myself those same questions, and in my opinion, art is artwork in the form of beauty, art is a piece of art that imitates life and by imitating life it expresses emotions, and art is what the spectator makes of the work as art.
Artwork in the form of beauty is the best art because it has the power to astonish, and the power to bring out the ambiguity and uncertainty out of us, and makes you see what you have not seen there before. In "This Is Our World" Dorothy Allison's describes what the painting made her feel: "I took the notion that art should surprise and astonish, and hopefully make you think something you had not thought until you saw it…" To Allison, the beauty of the painting of Jesus had the power to surprise her. "I could not take my eyes off the painting…" she said. That painting also brought out uncertainty of what she though Jesus out to look. "He was not my idea of the Son of God, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. It made me want the painting even more, and to this day I remember it with longing. It had the weight of art, that face. It had what I am sure art is supposed to have-the power to provoke, the authority of a heartfelt vision." She was so overtaken by the beauty of Jesus face in the painting that she wanted to have her own one, just like it.
The Menil Collection houses a series of work from various artist like Brauner, Chamberlain, Flavin, Magritte, Picasso, Warhol and other well known artists. Here you can find a painting by Andy Warhol that, in my opinion, reinforces what art is not. The piece is called "Lavender Disaster," and in fact, it is a disaster; it looks like Warhol spilled lavender paint on a canvas and tried to wipe it off. This particular painting does not have the power to astonish or to surprise you, and it is not attractive in any form or shape.
Art is also a piece of work that imitates life and by imitating life it conveys emotions. It has the power to tell you stories, scary stories, meaningful stories, and sometimes just everyday stories. It also has the power to illustrate meaningful messages of the artist, of others, or of you. The painting I chose from the photo gallery at the High Museum of Art is "Andromeda" by William Wegman. This photograph captured the image of Andromeda, a golden Labrador retriever, with a mischievous look on her face in Cobscook Bay, Maine. Andromeda shows us the reality of her nature as a Labrador loving the water, and loving the outdoors, she gives life to the photograph and in return it imitates reality. Andromeda is meaningful, and it touches you in some kind of way by reminding you of a loved pet or remembering a past pet. Also it makes you think of something you don't dare to think. In my experience, Andromeda made me think of my dog Brownie,a chocolate Labrador, given to me as a present for the Millennium (New Year's Day, 2000). It also made me think of how much I miss him, and I realized that he taught me how to love a pet since I did not care for any kind of animals in my house.
"Nature Monte au Crane" (Still Life with Skull) by Pablo Picasso is another piece that can be found in The Menil Collection that in my opinion it is not art, because it does not imitate life and it does not convey emotions. It also does not tell any kind of stories, and it does not illustrate a meaningful message. What I see is some colorful shapes of some sort, maybe a vase on a table, but to me it is silent.
Art is what the spectator makes of the work as art, and sees in the piece as art. Each spectator is unique. Everyone is brought up differently and everyone's experience of life is different; even if you were raised in the same house, read the same books, ate the same food, you are still different from others in your household. Art makes that clear. In "Ways of Seeing," John Berger says, "…our perception or appreciation of an image depends also upon our way of seeing." Because two people cannot see the same or view art in the same way, art is what we believe art is. The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe (Berger). He also stated that the relation between what we see and what we know is never settled, that we never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves. By relating the art to yourself you are seeing art differently than everyone else.
When I was 9 years old, I was selected to represent my school in an art contest with several other children from different schools in the area where I lived in Tela Bay. My painting touched the teachers. For this contest, I was asked to draw the same beautiful landscape with the mountains setting the background, the sun shining over the small cottage, the birds flying over the trees, the colorful wildflowers growing everywhere, the ducks swimming in the pond, and the small farm animals about the yard. I was disappointed to lose to a five year old girl from our rival school. She had drawn a stick woman, a plain and simple stick woman with the word "Mom" written underneath it. The judges and the spectators saw the relationship between the girl and her mother and were touched by it. On the other hand, I saw a stick woman that did not look anything like a mom, showing me what art is not. What we make of that painted moment when it is before our eyes depends upon what we expect of art (Berger).
Art is not what the artist chooses for art to be just because he or she is a well-known artist or because he or she felt like grabbing an object, signing it with a fictitious name, and calling it art. Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) challenged the definition of art with his work "Fountain" (1917/64) which was a copy of a porcelain urinal bought in 1917 in New York (Phaidon Press). Duchamp felt that it was not important whether or not 'Mr. Mutt' (a made up name), made the piece with his hands but what was important was that he had chosen it, making the creation not vital but the idea and choice essential. To me this shows what art is not. It does not communicate a form of beauty, it does not imitate life therefore it does not express an emotional truth. And for those spectators that relate to the piece it shows their perception and appreciation of bad art.
Copyright (c) 2002 by Yadira P. Romero
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