Many approaches can be utilized in order to define what art is. In my opinion, art is a set of ways in which a person can express things, concepts, and ideas. Due to being intertwined with one’s personality, art communicates the unique experience of the world’s perception and cognition through the available media. Art’s power manifests in emotions invoked by the understanding of the message disguised under the choice of form and medium. However, such a definition is overgeneralized – in light of different aesthetic theories, such as imitational, formalistic, and emotional, art can be defined more narrowly.
For some people, the realistic representation of the art subject is the most critical. Imitationalism emphasizes realism in representation; thus, an imitationalist artist mainly focuses on mimicking real-life experiences. In a successful imitational piece of art, the textures, light, shadows, proportions, and perspective are highly realistic, reminding beholders of what can be found and observed in the real world. From this point of view, I would define art as the artist’s ability to project the actual features onto the chosen medium.
Another approach to art puts its composition above anything else. In a formalistic aesthetic theory, factors such as design quality and arrangement of the art piece elements are essential in defining art. According to the theory’s name, formalist artists focus on the form of an art piece – namely, the way it is made and what it resembles. Consequently, in a successful formalistic piece of art, the visual features of the line quality, color, composition, and other utilized principles and elements convey the main message. In light of formalism, I would define art as the uniqueness of the artist’s way of expression.
The third aesthetic theory is more internally focused compared to the previous theories. Many critics would argue that artwork is worthless if it fails to convey a message (Thapa, 2019). In this context, emotional aesthetic theory considers an art piece’s content and expressive quality – strong feelings, moods, and ideas communication is utterly necessary. Thus, an emotionalist artist will focus on emotional expression. In turn, their successful art piece will not only communicate an emotion but also, more importantly, invoke an emotional reaction from the beholder. In light of emotionalism, I would define art as the measure of impact an artwork has on people.
To summarize, if art is viewed through the lenses of aesthetic theories, it can be defined either by the extent of real-world reflection, its form, or its content. In this regard, I would also add the distinction of subjectivity – art definition can be approached subjectively and objectively, with the latter being a mere attempt to do so. Thus, I believe that imitationalism and emotionalism yield primarily subjective definitions of art. These theories are increasingly bound to one’s perception of artistic features. In the case of imitationalism, a beholder will evaluate the extent of resemblance between the art piece and its real counterpart. In the case of emotionalism, the source of subjectivity will lie in the extent to which the beholder can relate to the artwork.
In contrast, the formalistic definition does not possess such subjective boundaries. Undoubtedly, a professional would assess particular art piece features differently than an amateur. Nevertheless, even the amateur will recognize the amount of work put into an art piece creation. Moreover, both the professional and the amateur can be similarly impressed by the artist’s choice of composition and medium. Therefore, I recognize the formalistic art definition as the most objective; however, I still find it incomplete. In my opinion, the true definition of art should be overgeneralized. As one of the most abstract concepts in society, it should not be artificially limited. Art is what it resembles; art is what it comprises of; art is what it conveys; and, at the same time, art is what people want it to be.
Reference
Thapa, R. (2019). Art, human condition and beyond…. Journal of the Institute of Engineering, 15(2), 231-235.