On the Recognition of Art
It is rather fascinating to observe the fact that nowadays, our concept of what makes art and literature had expanded to such vastly different media concepts that it has become difficult to define it as strictly as it had been defined before. For most people, art is something beautiful. But as we have learned through the evolution of thought and culture, the concept of beauty that two separate individuals have could be vastly different from each other. While some believe that beauty is comforting and soothing and pleasant, others find beauty in the macabre, the disjoints, the feeling that nothing is quite right.
For the most part, the academe that have declared themselves the guardians of art, those who have dedicated themselves to the study of what makes things artistic, have attempted to explain to the apparent laymen the difference between true quality of art and “utter garbage”. In doing this, they may have ended up intellectualizing something that may very well simply be an inexplicable reaction – after all, certain pieces of art are thought to be art simply because they are liked. And often, reasons for liking things are very much unclear.
Nowadays, more and more people have come to accept the idea that what makes or breaks a work of art does not necessarily need the opinion of so-called experts backing it up. It does not need the name of an acclaimed artist for it to be truly valuable (for what is the name of the artist but a brand name for, say, a painting?). What it DOES need is that innate quality that brings out a reaction from people. That is not to say that a piece of art is to have a message or meaning that is meant to change the world, oh no. Art is expressive, it expresses feelings – feelings related to thoughts, feelings related to actions, feelings related to events. And art shares those feelings, shares them in ways that are universal.
Nowadays, there are so many people expressing themselves – especially over the world wide web. They would write journals, post photographs that they have taken, share art or comics that they have edited or drawn using graphics technology. In fact, one can argue that certain layouts of web domains can be considered works of art in that they reflect all that their designers wish to express. There is a whole well of creativity springing with fresh water in the internet, and the prospect of discovering even more ways of being artistic is rather exciting to think about.
Still, the more traditional patrons of the arts are rather hesitant to recognize the fruits of digital artistry. No matter how moving the result are, or how amazing they may be, traditionalists are loathe to admit that anything that could be found over the internet (save for digital copies of supposed classic art or art rendered in the traditional manner) could be anything but inferior attempts at art. The idea that some wonderful gems that could be found on websites like, say, DeviantArt or Flicker would be dismissed simply because they were found on the internet is rather frightening. Even more disappointing is the fact that web designs are simply written off because they do not fall under the traditional categories of art is also rather devastating to think about.
It makes one wonder why one needs the help of experts when recognizing art – do they really need such technical skill? Do they really need to be part of a certain ideal of artistry for them to be thought of as artistic? On the other side of the coin, does one really need to be avant-garde to be thought of as an artist – could a simple photograph of a man's silhouette against a backdrop of sunrise scanned and subtly altered to enhance contrasts not be capable of artistry, not be capable of moving people to tears?
Sure, there are more experts who are embracing this new approach to art, but more still who are uncomfortable with the notion of finding art in something unfamiliar.
About the Author: Elea Almazora, contributor to Alarte.Com
Elea Almazora currently works as a contributor to many information-based websites, writing about many subjects ranging from culture to sciences.
For more information related to this article, please visit Alarte.Com
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