Art and its Value
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What is art and what is its value?
Ultimately, art is a matter of subjectivity. But at the same time, some things are more suitably associated with the prescribed idea of what art is supposed to be, than others. I would explain to a Martian that art is a universally accepted concept that consists of creating something that provokes a reaction, whether it may be a physical one or a change on an outlook of a concept. Art is created by those who have a particular intention in mind. It could be a question to society, or even a movement that they want to bring to light. It must have a reason for existing in the world. Secondly, there must be some technically thought out aspect of the entire thing, meaning even if it is not "beautiful" it must be created the way it is for a reason. Thirdly, it must invoke a reaction from those who are to come in contact with it. On the other hand, non-art would be something purely functional with minimal aesthetic value. What is art and not art is deeply affected by the way in which we look at them. If we view something out of our everyday lives as art, then we push ourselves to find things of deeper interest than what we just see on the surface.
The idea of aesthetic pleasure is clearly evident in human psyche. We have an intense and natural urge to look at things that are pleasing to the eye. The arts indeed, definitely have value as they are often original ideas that stem from deep thought and contemplation about certain ideas that people want to bring up and more fine than not, make people want to actually look. Art is valuable in ways other than monetarily. It provides both the artists and the spectator a new outlook on a subject.
What is bad art?
One would argue that deciding what bad art is a matter of taste and subjectivity. But one must also consider that art that is frequently duplicated and that is unoriginal that brings nothing new to the realm of knowledge can be considered as bad art. Bad art has uninteresting, repetitive content that serves no real purpose. Bad art is also that with extremely limited technical skill along with its weak and sometimes nonexistent intentions. What is bad art can be decided by trying to understand what good art it. Good art prompts queries and thoughts whereas bad art makes no effect on absolutely anyone who comes into contact with it. It is merely existing without a purpose.
Aesthetic judgements are subjective because often, an opinion is not shared by all. Although it is argued that there are certain judgement standards, we must understand that we will never be able to fully understand the reasoning behind which one finds something attractive or appealing. Similarly, aesthetic judgement is unique to everyone assessing or observing the art, individually. Therefore, these judgements are more often than not, a reflection of ones personal preferences.
The Sciences and The Arts?
The similarities between the sciences and the arts is the fact that both these areas of knowing are ultimately trying to decode and make sense of the world in their own ways, by finding patterns. Also, both these filed require a great deal of imagination. Some of the greatest innovations in the sciences had to start from an idea that someone imagined. They are seen to be poles apart mainly because of their ways of knowing. The arts rely on imagination, whereas the sciences rely on proof and reason. Furthermore, it is said the arts have been invented over time whilst the sciences have been discovered. The sciences is just bringing to light something that has already been around, undiscovered. Hence, the arts have experienced imagination and creativity in every aspect where as the sciences greatly deepened on the inventions and discoveries before them.
"Tracey Emin: My Bed" - This work of art was bought by Charles Saatchi for 150 000 UK pounds = 12,297,020 Indian Rupee. Is this art? Should taxpayers money be used to buy an art piece like this for a museum? Again, this is dependant on the intentions of the artist and more importantly, the cultural context of the installation. Maybe, this piece was created at a certain time period for a specific reason. For example, to comment on the way in which women were stereotypically labelled to be "obedient" and "gentle" or in a time where women who drank and had frequent sexual interactions were deemed less worthy than those who did not, because there was such a thing as a stereotypically categorised "respectable woman". The unkempt bed could be a symbol for the most authentic form of the person Emin was. These are all possible interpretations of a universally interpretable piece of art. It is possible that people may claim that anyone could have exhibited the same work, including themselves, But the fact is that nobody else did it. Since Emin was the first to do so, she is successful in making a statement. Yes, I do think that taxpayers money should be used to buy this artwork for a museum because it has done what no one else dared to do or thought of doing. It makes a statement and makes people stop and actually think a bout the piece as a whole. It provokes some sort of reaction from the spectator and therefore could be beneficial in some sort of way.
Standards of Beauty
I think the standards of beauty value from culture to culture because growing up surrounded by specific ideals affects the way in which we see the world. Our minds adapt to the socially prescribed ideas of beauty based on what we see around us. What is seen as attractive in one culture may not be in the other. It is a matter of exposure to the subject.
Ultimately, art is art. It makes little sense to some and is everything to others. Its beauty is in its ambiguity.
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