Art as representation

ISSUES ON THE “BEAUTIFUL”:ART AS REPRESENTATIONPresented by:

Shaina Mavreen D. Villaroza

Philosophy 1N

WHAT IS REPRESENTATIONAL ART? The word "representational," means that the

work depicts something easily recognized by most people.

The value of art lies, not with any ‘aesthetic’ qualities of the artwork itself (perceptual richness, natural beauty etc.);

nor with any ‘formal’ features the work possesses (the intrinsic properties of ‘form’, ‘balance’, ‘harmony’ etc.)

nor with the emotions the work evokes or possesses intrinsically.

But rather with what a work of art can teach us. This could be termed cognitivism: a work of art is about thoughts .

ART INFORMS US BY:

illuminating our experience  revealing truths’ in ways other media can’t it reveals a ‘vision’. It shows us a version of

the world that is particular to the artist, unique to them, but which we can ourselves appreciate

representing authentically. 

To represent authentically, perhaps art must have a certain realism.

Consider the next three pictures.

EXAMPLE OF REPRESENTATIONAL ART

Leon Dolice - Third Avenue,

depicts a street scene in New York City. You can see a street, an automobile and lots

of buildings - one of which is only found in New York City.

THIRD AVENUE BY LEON DOLICE

This etching is representational art.

ABSTRACT (NON-REPRESENTATIONAL)

Franz Kline (Abstract Expressionist artist) - New York, New York.

It's not a scene of New York City. There are no identifiable objects or people within. In fact, one is left free to interpret whatever one wishes about this piece.

FRANZ KLINE, NEW YORK, N.Y.

This painting is entirely non-representational.

ORIGIN/HISTORY OF REPRESENTATIONAL ART

Started many millennia ago with Late Paleolithic figurines and carvings. 

Example: Venus of Willendorf - while not too terribly realistic, is clearly meant to show the figure of a woman.

VENUS OF WILLENDORFShe was created around 25,000 years ago, and is here mentioned as an excellent example of early representational art.

Origin/History of Representational Art

Throughout our history as art-creating humans, most art has been representational.

Even when art was symbolic, or non-figurative, it was usually representative of something.

Abstract (non-representational) art is a relatively recent invention, and didn't evolve until the early 20th-century.

Origin/History of Representational Art

PRESENT STATUS OF REPRESENTATIONAL ART

Thriving More viewer-friendly to the vast majority of people than abstract or conceptual art

This is not to say that abstract art isn't a thing of beauty

We humans are compelled to understand things and use words in an attempt to do so

OVERVIEW

 Modernism promoted originality, &experimentation, anti-realism,

individualism and a stress on the cerebral rather than emotive aspects. 

 Postmodernism renounces mimesis altogether. free-wheeling creations constructed of

a language that largely points to itself 

REPRESENTATIONAL THEORIES IN HISTORYPLATO AND REALITY

Plato’s account in Book X of his ‘Republic’ because art was merely a ‘copy of a copy’

(represented a reality which was itself only a pale representation of the true reality of Forms), it could not be regarded as ‘truth-functional’ and thus had no place in a ‘well run’ society.

Platonic view: art merely ‘copies’ ( mimesis ) the world badly.

REPRESENTATIONAL THEORIES IN HISTORYARISTOTLE AND MIMESIS

• Aristotle: disagrees. For him, art had the capacity to: - Be morally educative (Homer, Greek Tragedy reinforce our view of the virtues

- Represent reality (and truths about it) in a way that other mediums could not (the ability to reveal universals, confront us with timeless beauty etc.)

EVEN IF ART INFORMS US, IS THAT WHY WE VALUE IT AS ART?

Valuing art in terms of its cognitive value means that the artwork itself – both its aesthetic and its formal and its emotional qualities – must be disregarded.

Yet this is unacceptable, since if we are going to provide an adequate account of why we value art, we need to explain aesthetic, formal and emotional qualities. ‘All Art aspires to the condition of music’, or ‘Art for art’s sake’!

END.