The ARTS

What constitutes art?

1: Intention of the Artist

• Something is a work of ART if it is made by someone with the intention of evoking an aesthetic response in the audience!

• Ants design the face of OBAMA in the sand• IS this Art?• Something is not a work of ART if it is a result

of random activity rather than conscious design.

Is this Art?

Natural V Controlled

2 :Quality

• The Intrinsic quality of the work• In general we feel that a work of ART should

not be something that a person with no talent or training in the ARTS could have made?

• Do you agree?• Now look at example on nest page

Dutch Example

• Government setup Fund to buy Dutch ART• They bought up 8000 pieces of work for Dutch

Artists• Can you see a problem with this?• 2 min’s to discuss• Result• 98% of it was rubbish!• They could not give it away for free. Dutch

institutions refused to take the ART! It was so bad!!!

Tracey Emin: My BED: Is this ART?

She got £150,000 for this!!!!!

Forgeries

• Are they forged Art?• What about really good ones!!!• Han Van Meergeren Hoax • He painted some Vermeers in the 1930’s• Even after exposure some art critiics contined

to insist the painting were genuine!

3: Spectator Response

• Which spectators should Artist appeal to?• “I loved his earlier work”

• General public V Artist like themselves• What is rubbish?• What is an Art expert?

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

• 1907• Met with shock and outrage • Now considered a masterpiece

Faking it example

• Paul O'Hare was a decorator when he was asked to pose as an artist for C4's Faking It. He liked his new life so much he switched for real.

• Is his work ART• He fooled the experts!

What constitutes art?

1 : Intention of the Artist2 : Quality3 : Spectator Response