Philosophy Vision: Elements of Aesthetics

To interpret beauty and art, an artist must provide some kind of intention. Without intention, you can’t involve the rest of the elements, symbolism, metaphor, or expression. The beauty of intention is that the public does not need to meet the same ends as the artist did when he/she initially created the art form whether it’s poetry, paintings, sculpture, etc.

The public can’t always have the same mean as the artist, is of one these two, nor the public does not want to know the artist’s intention or simply we can’t know. For example, the passing of specific artists, the likes as of Shakespeare, Mozart, or the late Willem De Kooning.

Without intention, there cannot be art. A critic also must have the knowledge that meta-criticism also has to remain in the objective sense.  Therefore a critic cannot bring psychology or their personal feelings in judging an art piece. So the argument of whether monkeys can or cannot intend art, is NOT philosophy or meta-criticism of art. Therefore, it is invalid. Nor can monkeys’ paintings interpret symbolism, metaphors, or expression. Again, there is no intention, therefore it cannot be art nor can be critiqued as art.

De Kooning’s art piece, “Door to the River” is a prime example to differentiate between weak and strong intentions. Regardless of its weakness, it still has some kind of intention unlike monkey paintings. As modern art evolves with today’s society, abstract paintings have become popular. The lack of knowledge with his painting could cause various arguments within beauty and art easily.

According to Beardsley, poetry is yet another strong example of abstract art. The idea of the complexity of the message, whether it involves symbolism, expression, or metaphor, is the grand critique. One could not possibly know the intention of the poem, unless the author puts performance in his/her speech. Depending on the poem, a piece of that particular art can easily become a weak intention or a strong intention. Again, there is still intention.

However, the artists’ intention may or may not fail. According to Beardsley, the only proof is the work. “Judging a work is like judging a pudding or a machine.” The meaning of the quote is in order to get some kind of intention, whether the artists, authors or the critics, one must test the piece. For example, in order to get the intention of a poet’s, one must read the art form. Regardless if the final product has met the artist’s intention or created a new from the audience, there is still intention.

The simplicity of the rebuttal that all authors have intention makes the intention argument that much stronger. Yes, all authors and artists (Homo sapiens) have some kind of intention.

Citations
De Kooney, Willem. Door to the River. 1960. Abstract Expression. Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York, USofA.
Wimsatt Jr., W. K. & Beardsley, Monroe C. The Verbal Icon: Studies in the Meaning of Poetry.
Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. 1954. Print

 

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