What is Art? NATACHA

WHAT IS ART?

By Natacha

Art is a centre point of culture; it surrounds, connects and deeply affects us in many forms. In fact, it is hard to imagine a world without paintings, literature and music, as they have such an impact on both our history and our current society.

However, what makes art ‘art’? Where do the boundaries lie? Who decides what qualifies as art? Is there a true answer to these simple questions?

Even limited to the visual arts, paintings, sculptures, ceramics and subsets of that same area, the definition of art is not firm or precise. Although analysed and discussed for years, there is yet to be an agreed upon definition of art. However, the most common theme within the range of possible answers is that art is an expression or application of human creativity and imagination that evokes emotion. This theme notably focuses on the activity, or rather the meaning of art rather than its products. As the art critic and author Sir E.H. Gombrich stated, ‘There is no such thing as art. There are only artists.’ Yet we can only stand before the products, sometimes centuries after their completion with no access to the techniques and inspirations that gave rise to them. When we look upon a painting or sculpture and feel moved, or inspired, or confused then the medium is having an impact on us.

REFERENCES

E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art https://imagejournal.org/article/empty-bed-tracey-eminpersistent-self/ www.britannica.com/art/visual-arts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp)

The first evidential examples of ‘art’ that we have today are from around 15000 BC. These are the cave paintings that depict people and animals, picturing their essence and physical traits. This core idea of art, although varying widely in practice and detail, remained central to artistic attempts throughout the ages, eras and revolutions. People strived to create sculptures, buildings, sketches, and paintings of the places, deities, patterns, and shapes that surrounded them in order to remove them from their mundanity into a higher state. Of course, the Impressionists did so differently to the Renaissance artists, just as they did so differently from their Medieval predecessors. In more recent times, the boundaries and methods have continued to be stretched and tested by such creations as Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ (1917) and ‘Bicycle Wheel’ (1916). And contemporary ‘shock art’ by artists such as Andres Serrano and Tracey Emin ensures that the central questions of art are still being questioned along with the existence of a definition at all.

The utter simplicity of Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ led to its notoriety. Twentieth-century artist Marcel Duchamp took an ordinary toilet urinal, signed it with the name ‘R Mutt’, and entered it in the Society of Independent Artists display. Because Duchamp did not physically fabricate, decorate, or significantly modify the urinal, many said it is useless, lazy art or, more likely, not art at all. The artist Grayson Perry, no stranger to artistic controversy, said "When [Duchamp] decided that anything could be art he got a urinal and brought it into an art gallery... I find it quite arrogant, that idea of just pointing at something and saying 'That's art.'" Some others however boldly asserted that the mere artistic submission of the piece differentiated it from its more functional use; as an artistic display, it became part of a narrative that depended on the unique imagination of each viewer. Art or not, this piece tests the boundaries of creative interpretation and seemingly demands that each viewer grapple with the enduring questions of art.

‘My Bed’ (1998) by Tracey Emin is a perfect example of modern, unconventional, and controversial art. It consists of a full size, messy, dirty, unmade bed surrounded by bottles, cigarettes, food wrappers, a razor, and other detritus of modern life. At first glance (and second and third) it might appear as a cheap and easy way to construct faux art, or simply as a taunting jeer at the artistic community as a whole. However, artistic context seems to redeem this unusual creation. Within the framework of its inspiration, Emin’s very real depressive episode in which she stayed in bed for four days consuming only alcohol, the piece gains meaning. The sundry mess of objects that surround the bed begin to communicate an authenticity that enhances its connectivity to viewers. Is there anyone who cannot relate to an existential struggle for identity and personal meaning? Can we not identify in Emin’s bed our own messy struggle for a sense of ‘meness’? Just as Van Gogh painted representations of his bedroom in the asylum at Arles, Emin ‘created’ something that has power and significance that transcend its everydayness and solely functional purpose. Like Duchamp, Emin was (and still is) criticised for adopting an artistic form that violates the traditional norms and expectations of viewers. But like ‘Fountain’, the meaning and impact of ‘My Bed’ lies not in its technical creation but in its contribution to a new way of expressing very human experiences and feelings. This must be understood in order to appreciate it. In a highly unconventional way, Emin has continued the work of the cave painters: the furthering of the mundane into a higher aesthetic for the enjoyment and admiration of the audience.

To conclude, we are entering a new era of art, one that involves abstract ideas and, whether you think it is stupid or not, can evoke emotion to a point that makes us question: is it art?