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Name Hist?| Timeline| H.H.Norvell| Heraldry| Links| ResumeWhat Is Art
A Discussion
by Ronald L. NorvelleGENESIS A innate drive that generates an urge to create.
CHARACTERISTICS For the purpose of this discussion I am artificially restricting thescope of creativity to those areas traditionally considered "The Arts."
A physical manifestation -- a drawing, the sound of a symphony,the touch of a sculpture, a performance, etc.
A communication -- a sharing of the impetus to create, throughthe result(s) of that motivation, with others. Since humans, at least, aregenerally considered to be bound to the conventional Einsteinian space/timereality, and are not generally considered to have more than trace levels ofextra-sensory abilities, the products of artistic endeavor must have somephysical manifestation to be credited as art. (so-called conceptual artnotwithstanding) When we are able to shape, preserve and share thoughts intheir native form, maybe then thoughtscapes can be included, but not before.Even more exotic forms may someday become realities -- in the future. So,at least for the present, art must take on some physical manifestation, nomatter how ephemeral that may be -- such as the sound of music.
"For art, at it's root, is association -- the power to make one thingstand for and symbolize another, to create the agreements by which somemarks on a surface denote, say, an animal, not just to the mark maker butto others."*
PROCESS A search-- for an avenue or medium through which the urge to create can be satisfied.
The process begins with period of exploration in which theindividual attempts to satisfy the creative urge through manipulationof various tools and media. The artist tries many ways to manipulate the medium.Some of these result in pleasing the artist (satisfying the creative urge);some do not and are discarded.
It should be recognized that just as the character of the artist's urgemay vary widely, so too does the selection of a medium.
A dialog-- The interaction between the artist and the chosen medium. Oncea medium for expression has been chosen, there follows a period of dialogbetween the artist and the chosen medium. The artist manipulates the medium. The medium responds to the artist's efforts. The artist evaluates the result and modifies the strategy to be used on the next effort. The medium responds, etc. This may or may not result ina physical outcome.
This interaction between the artist and the medium is the principlesubstance of the doing of art. The joy and heartache of the artist result from this dialog, and it accounts for much of the content of artist's journals.
ART PRODUCTS The product of the interaction between the artist and the medium. Thisclass of items contains within it the art as well as the discarded effortsand products of the process. Although the products rejected by the artistmay have aesthetic qualities and historical value, they must not be confusedwith the actual artwork produced by the artist.
The most ephemeral of creative products seem to be those of performance.The voice of the singer, the movements of the dancer, the spoken wordsof the orator, the expressions of the mime, etc. However, the recordedperformance is no more the real thing than is the reproduction of a paintingthe original creation.
Other results of the creative process may be more lasting. A building,a painting or sculpture, a musical instrument, a chair, a set of eatingutensils, a sword, a poem, etc.
VALUE/WORTH The product of the creative dialog between the artist and the chosenmedium of expression may, or may not, have worth to anyone, including theartist.
Personal Worth -- The worth of an art product to the producermay be in the form of enriching the artist's perceptions, advancing theartist's skills, personal sensual satisfaction or the release of the tensionthat frequently drives artists when they are not doing art. The work mayrepresent, to the artist, a significant milestone in their work, life,the understanding of their craft or some other occurrence of importanceto the artist. For any one or a combination of these or other reasons,an art product may be of value to the artist that created it.
Societal Worth -- In an entirely different realm, the public-the general population exposed to the art product - may find worth in a workindependently from the intentions of the artist. Subject matter, theme,treatment, humanistic content, historical content, or any of a universeof other reasons may conspire to produce a response in a large number ofviewers so that the result is a societal value or worth for the art product.
This value may be expressed in monetary terms, but the value recognizedin this conjecture is NOT MONETARY, but aesthetic or possibly social. Inother words, someone may be willing to spend large or small sums of moneyon a creative work, but that is only an indication of the work's possibleaesthetic or social worth to that particular individual and not an indicationof any lasting value on a larger scale.
The final assessment of a work's value is rendered by the passage oftime and the lasting aesthetic or social appeal of the work to a largebody of individuals. This value is due to the creative work being ableto communicate some meaningful message to that audience.
VALIDITY The assessment of whether or not a work should or could be called artis first of all predicated on whether or not it is a product of the foregoingprocess, i.e. the result of a sentient being responding to an innate urgeto create using some chosen media, producing some identifiable product.Other things may posses beauty, social importance, or aesthetic value,but are not eligible to be called art because they are not created outof this process; they are natural occurrences. At this point, the traditionaldiscussions of art come into play.
Is it art? -- Not all art products are considered art, especiallyand most importantly, by the artist. The larger, general, assessment ofart is that the product has some measurable value to others.
Who judges? -- The artist, the public, the art critics, posterity?All, in their turn and with different weights take their turn at judging.In the end it is the sum of all of these factors that matters.
On what basis? -- The judgment may be made on the basis of aesthetic, contextual,formalistic, historic, or societal values, personal subjectivity, or other frames of reference. Each frame of reference will generate a different result based on its underlying assumptions. Choose well.
Final judgement -- is, nonetheless, eventually conferred on thework, if it ever sees the light of day. It will either disappear quicklyor will take its place, large or small, in that on-going body of work that ismankind's artistic heritage.
* A Time magazine editor commenting on newly discoveredcave art from the Dordogne valley in France.
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