Art produces objects designed to appeal to the sense of beauty or move us emotionally. Appealing to the sense of beauty means, to use Kant's definition, appealing to the sense of order- within- variation that stimulates the imagination while satisfying reason. Moving us emotionally may conflict with the sense of beauty, but is equally valid. However, since we presume that this sort of art transcends, at least in part, purely personal or ethnic valuations, to approximate to a certain universality, it is necessary that it aspire to great themes, with an existential validity going beyond the particular mores of a given society. It is not necessary that art be moral, precisely, but that it be existentially valid, something that deals in a deep and plausible way with perennial themes of the human predicament, like the conflict between love and honor. In certain instances, we may in fact think that the treatment was morally dubious, but existentially valid insofar as it gives us an opportunity to achieve catharsis, give vent to those portions of our personality which are ordinarily held in check, or acknowledge the attractiveness of the other side of a case.
It is important that one be capable of fulfilling the design intentions of one's project, but obviously if one is, for example, an abstract painter, it is easier to do, and the ability to introduce variations of color and line, while maintaining a sense of balance, is more important than technique. Since the important thing is the end product, the artist might easily be successful without having a lot of craft. Thus, Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning are great artists who allowed a considerable element of chance and spontaneity to affect their work.
Similarly when taking into account expression. Craft is subordinate to the realization of intention, that is, the ability to adapt means to expressive ends. Thus, someone like John Waters might make use of a kind of kitschy amateurishness in his movies which heightens the impact of certain elements. In "Hairspray", it conveyed a strong sense of the "atmosphere" of working class Baltimore, and the way that the emerging youth culture provided a common ground for black and white youth, without getting pedantic.
Another, more exalted, example, is when Picasso incorporates elements of African and early Iberian art into the first cubist masterpiece, "Les Demoiselle D'Avignon", to convey the primitiveness of a brothel.
To take examples of existentially valid works that need not be strictly moral, we needn't subscribe to the concepts of Greek religion or political order to appreciate "Antigone", and the deep portrayal of a conflict arising out of the demands of family feeling and obligations to the political. We needn't agree with the dynastic tenets of Shakepeare to appreciate "Henry V". "Lolita" is somewhat perverse, and yet it is a lyrical portrayal of romantic obsession. There is something low about the obsession of fellows like Toulouse- Lautrec with prostitutes and showgirls, and yet there is also a celebration of joie de vivre, of rough working class vitality, that is engaging. The blues is often bawdy and ill- bred, but it also is pretty good for when you are feeling low-down and need catharsis.
I offer these thoughts with interest in how they strike you........ |
