Good art is all about what affects our senses. Whether that be physical senses (like food I guess), or emotional feelings. Art, by itself, does not have to necessarily be beautiful. But when art has a motive, it takes a whole new form. The motive doesn't even have to be clear to the viewer, just the fact that it has a purpose is reason alone for that piece to be significant. The whole new form that is achieved is beauty. Art's message is to teach, and at the moment when the viewer understands, harmony between ambiguous metaphor and earth-shattering realization occurs. That harmony is beauty.
Now, since art's purpose was to teach, and once you learned it's offer, you experienced real beauty, beauty and truth are directly related. Things that are beautiful in art do not have to fit the normal stereo-type of the perfect female/male form, or even complimentary colors, they simply have to teach. That's why things that are horribly depressing, can a lot of the time be beautiful. Such as a painting who is depicting loss or death...those can be seen as beautiful. Looking at that painting you're experiencing the unfathomable, the unknown, the end of life as you know it; the very truth of this piece of art. These are very large aspects of that painting that you experience all at once, (gestalt as I remember our teacher saying, haha) so how can that not be beautiful?
I agree with you that the purpose of art is to teach. I like how you explained how the beauty of art is seen when the message the artist is trying to convey is understood. The power that art has on people because of the truth it can teach is incredible.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the idea that art doesn't have to be beautiful, and the job of art is to teach. The idea that it is arts harmony and ability to emotional impact that gives it power is astonishing. I really enjoyed reading your view on art.
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