What is Art and why does it matter?

What is the "is" of artistic identification? (Danto)

"is" applies to artwork as a necessary condition, all art must have it, but not all everyday objects do. Can only be used when their is a theory in place, that is the artistic enfranchisement of real objects

What does the term "sukiya" mean? (Kakuzo)

1. Abode of the Fancy 2. Abode of the Vacancy 3. Abode of the Unsymmetrical

What does Plato have to say about art being morally corrupting?

1. Art stirs up emotions that are best kept under control 2. It sets a bad example: it presents in a noble light behaviors that would normally be considered ridiculous

What are the critiques of Tolstoy's argument in what makes art, good art?

1. Clarity should not be included because that has to do with the artist's talent and mastery of means of expression. Can be sincere without being clear 2. How do we tell if an artist is sincere? Intentional fallacy - problem found in trying to judge a work of art on the basis of what the artist intends to express

What are the three properties of the style matrix?

1. Contradictories - one applies to every object in the universe (red and not-red) 2. Contraries: neither may apply to some objects in the universe (hot and cold) 3. Opposites: representational and non-representational, neither sensibly applies, but among those objects when it is sensible (artwork), one must apply

How does reality stem up from art to forms? (plato)

1. Forms = Reality 2. Things, copies of things, appearances, copies of appearances = Art

What makes art, good art? (Tolstoy)

1. It "infects" well. The stronger the infection, the better the art. 2. The quality of feeling it transmits. (individuality of feeling, clarity of expression, sincerity of artist)

Good art is good overall if.... (Tolstoy)

1. It contributes to human progress in feelings (need to cultivate feelings with one another, spiritual union of one another) 2. It coheres with religious perception (sorts out good feelings from bad ones. Good = conducive to the well being of mankind. Highest ideals of society)

How does knowledge relate to art? (plato)

1. Knowledge = philosophy 2. Correct opinion = craftsmen 3. Ignorance = Art

What is beauty? (Kant)

1. Object of disinterested liking - beauty is not a property of the object, has to do with the liking of an object, independent of considerations of perfection 2. Form of purposiveness without purpose - design of elements in an object 3. Free lawfulness of the imagination - ground of pleasure

How does the Tea room reflect Zen doctrines? (Kakuzo)

1. Size of the room: based on allegory of the non existence of space to the enlightened 2. Garden path (roji): First stage of mediation, passage to self illumination. (transported from busyness of day to peace of the room) 3. Small door to room: Inculcation of humanity

What are the two aesthetic judgments? (kant)

1. Taste of Sense: for the object, has pleasure of the agreeable. Immediate sense experience 2. Taste of reflection: True judgments of taste. For the object, has pleasure of the beautiful. Non-immediate and non-passive response, requires cognitive activity

What does Heidegger say about the Being?

1. The being reveals itself as it conceals itself 2. The being exceeds without qualification. Exceeds rational thought The poet, not philosopher, has the proper comportment to being

What does Kant say about the beautiful, the agreeable, and the good? (Critique of the power of judgement)

1. The pleasure in beauty is disinterested 2. Pleasure of the agreeable: you desire it and are pleased when you get it 3. Pleasure of the good: approve of x as good and aim to bring it about

What does Collingwood say about magic?

Activity that uses representations to a preconceived end. The preconceived end is the re-evocation of emotion. Emotion has practical function in daily affairs

Art does not just arouse emotion, it expresses it. What is the difference between the two? (Collingwood)

Arousal: not sincere, doesn't seek to clarify emotions, emotion is discharged (fleeting), make audience get emotion you may not have (other-directed), exhibits planning/execution Expression: completely opposite of arousal

Describe the real theory of art (Danto)

Art aims at a reality, not an illusion Danto - believes you need to go beyond real theory to make something art Socrates - Art is no less real than everyday objects, not an illusion, but also not the real thing

What is the error theory? (Collingwood)

Art has something to do with emotion but the technical theory doesn't quite grasp it. Has to do with something that is made but not captured by form/matter distinction, not made by skill, and not necessarily material

What is the technical theory of art? (Collingwood)

Art is a craft that aims at the production of certain mental states in the audience. Not characterized by means-ends, planning and execution.

What does Plato have to say about art in the republic?

Art is cognitively bankrupt. It is the mimesis (imitation/representation) of appearances of things, it is far removed from knowledge and reality

Is art craft or no? (Collingwood)

Art is not craft. Characteristics of craft aren't necessary for art. Art MAY lack them

What is art? (kant)

Art is production thru freedom, knowledge-how (can't just know it to do it), and free and playful

How does art use infectiousness of feeling? (tolstoy)

Art is the conscious use of external means to do so. Those means are movements, lines, colors, sounds, words (all the individual arts)

How does art express emotion? (Collingwood)

Art must show, not tell, its emotions. Must show particular emotion rather than kind of emotion (this type of sadness rather than just sadness)

What makes Brillo Boxes art? (Danto)

Art theory explains why the "is of artistic identification" is applied to the box: the box of the real world may be one and the same as that of the artworld, but it must be enfranchised by art theory to be art

What does Collingwood say about Amusement?

Artifact designed to stimulate emotion for the sake of enjoyment. Not useful, only enjoyable. Emotion is discharged within the amusement itself

What is Art? (tolstoy - what is art?)

Artist-Work-Recepient. The entire relation is art, it is dynamic. All three must be there for it to be art.

How does the tale of taming the harp contribute to art appreciation? (Kakuzo)

As man is able to tame the harp, an artistic masterpiece also plays upon our finest feelings. The magic touch of the beautiful plays at our internal cords. It speaks to us because we, ourselves are masterpieces. The artist understands us, then we come to understand ourselves

Why is the celebration of women art well-intentioned but misguided? (parker and pollock)

Celebrate arts/crafts of women in the face of male prejudice but need to go farther. Also need to study the development of an ideology of femininity - a social definition of women and their role, with the emergence of a clearly defined separation of art and craft.

What is the real theory of art and its history? (Danto)

Emerged from the imitation theory of art. Shows the need to specify the "is of artistic identification" (the "is" is the necessary criterion for all art) Can understand what makes art and allows us to account for the ever-growing richness of the world

What does Collingwood say about Art Proper? (Art as the expression of emotion)

Expression of the emotion of the artist through which he achieves clarity about his emotion. Expressed singularly. Emotion not discharged, artist explores it. Not defined by the means/end relationship

What is a form for Plato?

Form is the ground of being of any of its instances. What makes various cats all cats. Forms are permanent and changeless, appearances can change but form stays

What is the fourhold and what does Heidegger have to say about it?

Fourhold: relation between Gods and men, heaven and earth. Heidegger appeals the fourhold saying that dwelling is dwelling on earth and that is under the sky. Poetry makes man belong on earth

The conception of genius (Kant)

Genius is the inborn predisposition of the mind through which nature gives the rule to art. Genius' works are original and give rule for people to follow. Can't be taught or copied. Beautiful art must come from a genius

What is Godhead? (Heidegger)

Godhead: What reveals itself conceals itself -- and that is measured (being). Man takes his measure from the unknown (being)

What is the central idea behind Crafty Women and the Hierarchy of Arts? (parker and pollock)

Hierarchy of arts vs Crafts has divided lines along gender, class, and economics. Text is focused on gender. Association of certain genres (flower painting) with so called feminine essence. Demoted women's art because there was less culture and intellect involved

What is Kakuzo's view on unauthentic connoisseurship?

If the art does not connect with you, does not have a foundation in real feeling, then its value is diminished

What does the Japanese tea room try to teach us? (Kakuzo - Book of Tea)

Inviting us to meditate upon the aesthetic experience and the meaning of a Japanese tea party. Also try to answer: Why does art matter? What does it teach us? Does it provide moral benefit? If beauty isn't an essential part of art, do we suffer a loss?

What is the value of art to Kakuzo?

It is not timeless, it is rather essentially historical and individual in nature: art is only valuable "to the extent it that speaks to us". We are destroying art and in it the beauty of life.

How is art a two-way street? (Kakuzo)

It is the sympathetic communication of minds. Artist endeavors to take audience into his confidence, audience endeavors to understand the artist. This is the union of kindred spirits. Art lover can transcend himself (he is and is not)

What are some asymmetries between male and female artists? (parker and pollock)

Males need a counterpart in order to maintain their dominance and find meaning. Reduce women to eyes and hands rather than intellect

What does Collingwood say about craft (includes magic and amusement)?

Means vs Ends Planning vs Execution Planning: Ends-means Execution: Means-ends Raw material vs Finished Product Form vs Matter Heirarchy of crafts

Measure taking: Essential vs Quantitative

Measuring induces us to think quantitatively, the true measure is not quantitative in essence. What gives us measure is the immeasurable

How does one experience beauty? (kant)

Need imagination and understanding in order to find beauty in something. Beauty is an object that appears unified according to a form, but theres no rule to the form. Can't make recipe for beauty. Only humans experience beauty

What does Heidegger say about Plato?

Plato ruined our reflection of the being by... 1. he upheld a metaphysics of presence - the being could be fully revealed thru philosophical contemplation 2. Made being measurable

What is the imitation theory? (Danto)

Plato/Socrates say that art is an imitation of reality, the painting of a bed is not a real bed but an imitation of it. The better the imitation, the more realistic it is, the better the art

What is Heidegger's lifelong philosophical project? (Poetically man dwells)

Recovering the meaning of being and putting reflection upon it and the ways in which people have come to understand it

What is overturning platonism? (Heidegger)

Resisting metaphysics of presence, exalted status of the image

What is dwelling to Heidegger?

Signifies more than a place of residence; it is the basic character of human existence. Poetry is a kind of building that lets us dwell

Describe the Tea room (Kakuzo)

Small, simple furnishings, yet carefully designed for desired aesthetic of tranqulitiy, beauty, and repose.

What lesson is to be learned from the disassociation of women from their art work? (parker and pollock)

Status of the maker matters in the evaluation of art. Status has less to do with the sex of the artist, rather the location and purpose. The distinction of art and craft has nothing to do with the inherent qualities of the object nor the gender of the maker.

Describe the Abode of the Fancy (Kakuzo)

Tea room is individualized, enforces the principle of vitality in art. The value of art - Art must be true to contemporaneous life to be fully valued, enjoy the present more. The frame of the room suggests how fragile life is yet the eternal can be found in evanescence - the eternal is found in the spirit which embodies the surroundings and beautifies them

What is the case of Testadura? (Danto)

Testradura has confusion about Rauschenberg's bed. R's bed is a real bed with paint on it. T mistakes bed for a real bed, doesn't realize its art Bed was meant to be reality according to real theory To understand the mistake is to understand art and this is what the common man lacks

What happens to the style matrix when a new theory is added? (Danto)

The artworld is made richer and art objects take on new identities

Describe the Abode of the Vacancy (Kakuzo)

The decorative motive is simple and impermanent. Used to be able to focus on the few objects within the room.

Why is language the master of man? (Heidegger)

The horizon of possibility of any act of thought is defined by language, therefore language is the master of man. Poets have a special connection with language

What is the basis of art? (tolstoy)

The infectiousness of feeling. The capacity of man to express his emotions and have another receive and express those same emotions. Not just the infection of feeling (openly weeping and making others sad)

Define excursus (Heidegger)

The source of our info about the relation between poetry and dwelling is language

What is poetic in dwelling? (Heidegger)

The taking of measure is poetic in dwelling. Poetry is a measuring

What was recently decided by the artworld about the imitation theory? (Danto)

The theory is false. Imitation is not sufficient (photo isn't necessarily art) nor necessary (think of abstract art) to make something a work of art

Describe the Abode of the Unsymmetrical (Kakuzo)

The unsymmetrical decoration is used to show the process thru which perfection was sought rather than on perfection itself. Connects with vitality - the virility of life and art lay in its possibilities for growth

What is Danto's thesis in "The Artistic Enfranchisement of Real objects: The Artworld"

Theories of art do not simply enable us to distinguish art from non-art; they also make art possible

What are the faculties of mind that are required for beautiful art? (Kant)

Understanding, Imagination, Spirit, Taste

What makes needlework of artists an art? (Parker and Pollock)

Usefulness and aesthetic sensibility coincide. Work and art come together. Crafts excluded from art because they stand for some uti

What is the falsification of a theory? (Danto)

When a theory can no longer accommodate new facts

Why can't just saying your sad be used as art to express emotion? (Tolstoy)

When you say it, you're expressing thoughts. When using art, you're expressing emotion

How does English embroidery show how a medieval art became a feminine craft? (parker and pollock)

Women were ridiculed for their preoccupation with needlework, but women recognized how needlework was useful. Embroidery was acknowledged as an art form that imitated fine arts and became synonymous with femininity

What is Levi-Strauss's nature-culture scale? (parker and pollock)

humans distinguish themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom by producing cultural artifacts out of raw materials. Nature to Culture