The Changing Definition of Art - Essay Example

The Changing Definition of Art What is the definition of art? Encyclopaedia Britannica gives the following definition: “the arts, also called fine arts, modes of expression that use skill or imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.” These “modes of expression” have been continuously changing throughout history. The change affects not only the technical means for creating art, but also the concept of “aesthetic objects”. If we look at the history of art from the 1800s to contemporary art, we can outline four major lines of change. First, the concept of beauty has changed. Art has always, in some way, been seen as an expression of beauty and harmony, especially in the past. Examples of classic Greek and Roman art show the central role of aesthetic values. This perception continued in Renaissance Europe and later, in the artistic styles of the 1700s and 1800s. If we look at Monet’s Impression, Sunrise and at the following works of Impressionist artists, we will see not only certain concepts but also some beautiful, aesthetically pleasing images. Therefore, we can say that in the late 19th and early 20th century the traditional meaning of beauty was still central in art. Then, gradually, works of art changed and the concept of beauty changed, too. Can Picasso’s Guernica be called a masterpiece? Certainly. Can it be called beautiful in the traditional, classic sense? Not exactly. This change in the concept of beauty is connected with the second change in the definition of art – the change in the meaning of art works. Artists in the past depicted what they saw. The styles changed and so did the techniques, but the realism of depiction remained until the beginning of the modern era in 19th century. Over the past 200 years realism in art has changed dramatically. In Picasso’s works for example – and in Cubism as a whole – reality is not what the artist sees but what he himself creates. The idea of this style is to take reality, destroy it in your imagination and then recreate it on the canvas. Other styles of the late 19th and early 20th century also took a novel approach to reality – Dadaism and Surrealism, for example. Marcel Duchamp worked in both styles and his works also represent this change. The third change in the definition of art is the growing role of political and social views in artistic works. This is the case with Dadaism, mentioned above. Rejection of traditional artistic values was for Dadaists a way to reject traditional social and political values which, according to them, led to World War One. This change is visible not only in the visual arts but also in music. The music of the 19th and 20th century had a significant social element. The specific ideas may be different around the world but the general change is the same – social ideas were reflected in music. For example, styles like gospel, soul, and spiritual have all evolved in the social context in which African people lived in America in 19th century. The fourth change in the definition of art is its growing utilitarianism. This change is mostly visible in architecture. If we take a look at what buildings looked like in the past (in the Antiquity, in the Middle Ages, in the Renaissance, and in the Enlightenment), we will see their elaborate beauty. Buildings were meant not only to be used according to their purpose, but also to be admired. Therefore, they had ample ornamentation and numerous details. Over the past 200 years, however, this approach has been abandoned in favor of a more utilitarian one. The main purpose of contemporary buildings is not to be admired but to be useful. All the changes described above bring about e whole new environment in which art is created, defined and perceived. They also pose the question “How can the traditional term “aesthetic” be used in connection with contemporary art?” Is it possible to put contemporary art in the context of the traditional aesthetic values? Values change with time and this also applies to aesthetic values. The perception of beauty in art, as noted above, has changed considerably throughout history. Therefore, contemporary art shouldn’t be expected to fit in the traditional criteria for beauty, meaning and artistic value. The traditional term “aesthetic” can hardly be applied to Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain or to Kazimir Malevich’s works Black Square and White on White and yet they are considered to be works of art. Therefore, to understand modern and contemporary art (the distinction between the two being that modern art includes the years between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s and contemporary art includes the years after World War Two) it is necessary to discern between “art” and “traditional aesthetics”. Art, defined as “modes of expression that use skill or imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences”, seems to be invariably connected with aesthetics, but not necessary traditional aesthetics. Therefore, contemporary works of art can be described as “aesthetic”, if the term is used more broadly. The changes in societies, arts and technologies have called for such liberalization of the term. As a result, works like Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain and Bruce Naumen’s Fountain are both considered significant works of art, although they are not “traditionally aesthetic”. Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain is an example of “readymade” art which uses ordinary objects to create pieces of art. These objects are not normally considered “art”, but they acquire artistic value, because they are placed in a different context, e.g. in a museum or an art gallery. The Fountain is a urinal, signed by Duchamp (under a pseudonym) and put on display. The idea is to give people time and space to contemplate on the meaning of the urinal as a work of art. The significance of this work is in the challenge of the traditional approach to art. Historically, art has always been put aside from everyday life, separated from the mundane tasks and especially from physiological activities. What Duchamp’s work did is precisely the opposite – it took an everyday object, connected with physiological activities, and called it “a work of art”. Bruce Naumen’s Fountain challenges traditional art in a similar way. His Self-Portrait as a Fountain, in his own words, is created by using the artist’s own body as a piece of material. The result is a work of art, in which, as he says, “the activity itself is the piece.” The center in this work is an activity – the artist is pretending to be a fountain by spilling water out of his mouth – captured in a photograph. This is a new approach, which, similarly to Duchamp’s urinal, takes an otherwise uninteresting activity, captures it on film and calls it a piece of art. Both Duchamp’s and Naumen’s works are significant in their new approach to aesthetics and art. They represent the changing ideas, values and concepts of art. This change should be viewed as positive because the very nature of art includes evolving, inventing new techniques and styles and challenging tradition. Moreover, the two works are both created in the 20th century when the vast political, social and technological changes in the world were bound to change art as well. Artists in the 20th century wouldn’t have been able to express themselves by the means used by artists in previous centuries. To sum up, the definition of art – and art itself – has changed greatly over the past 200 years due to the changes in the world. These parallel and interconnected changes have brought about new forms of art which challenge tradition and create new aesthetic standards. Works Cited: "the arts." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. . Read More