Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines
I have recently attended a lecture on various forms of art. In this lecture, some of the articles were discussed, and the importance of painting, photography and sculpture was analyzed on the example of the controversial articles written by Krauss and Osip Brik. We also debated about the opinions and where they come from. This paper gives a brief overview of the ideas that I was left with after visiting the event and reflects my opinion on things that I’ve heard.
It is believed that we all have opinions, and those opinions rarely seem to have any valid fundament. If one starts figuring out where his opinions originate, one can get pretty puzzled. Some opinions are nothing but a result of our interaction with the society that surrounds us. For a human being who lives among other human beings, it is hard, if not impossible, not to modify his worldview according to the societal values. Sometimes opinions tend to spoil people’s lives when people start acting to prove or argue someone’s view of them. However, opinions are very important in the world of art because they shape our perception of art. We are all pretty biased: some of us cannot understand the value of the outdated Classical art, and some struggle to understand the core of Modern art. However, if we all had the same attitude, we would like the same styles in art and the same art forms, and thus, art would lose its diversity, and critics wouldn’t have a thing to argue about. So, do we actually need opinions?
In spite of the fact that opinions do exist in our society and have a pretty firm position in it, they do change. Krauss’ article proves that with time, opinions about art change. She gives an example of sculpture that used to idealize the subject that it portrayed and was meant to worship people or their achievements. Architects had many strict rules and guidelines to follow. Now sculpture transformed into something completely different: it no longer shows an ideal image of a person or an event. On the contrary, the closer to real life it is, the more accessible and popular it becomes. Sculpture moves closer and closer to becoming a part of our daily lives, which is the goal of modern artists. As for them art is life, it must not look like if it’s something supernatural (like the old paintings and sculptures that showed only emperors, gods and generals – very distant from the daily routine creatures.)
Another opinion introduced by Krauss was that “sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.” Now, this is a great example of an opinion that can either outrage the admirers of sculpture, or just make the readers agree with a sad smile. I would agree, although sculpture is not a subject of my interest as I am not very familiar with it. I can, however, judge based on the people that I frequently observe when I come to a museum or a gallery. People (especially tourists) indeed come here to see mostly paintings. Should it outrage someone who is very into sculptures and understands their true significance? Painting still remains the most accessible form of art and thus the easiest to understand. It doesn’t require a lot of movement of a body and an eye, like sculpture does. One can just stand and observe it from a single point, because it’s flat and fit into one’s eye all at once. This opinion, however, terrify some people. Of course, painting would barely exist without sculpture. Artists would never learn to draw a three-dimensional object on a piece of canvas or paper if they didn’t have sculptures in front of them. Krauss’ opinion was based on her observation of the majority, which is accurate but can be questioned. What would she say about the rest? To me, there will always be people who will respect sculpture more, collect it and come to museums to observe it. That’s why there are so many forms of art; people need each of them.
I highly dislike the article by Brik called “Photography Versus Painting” and that is not because of my attitude towards photography, which is very considerate and respectful. He claims that while photography is developing and its popularity is growing, there is no need for the painters to paint precisely what they see as they now can be creative. Now, artists had been creative way before Brik came up with his idea and before photography emerged and became so popular. Just remember the paintings of the Impressionists and Surrealists! In my opinion, one thing here doesn’t depend on another. If an artist wants to paint precisely what he sees, that’s the way to go. If he wants to come up with a brand-new movement, that is also the way to go. Art wouldn’t be art if it didn’t carry the sense of freedom. That’s why so many people go to art schools and are willing to create. I do understand that artists should earn money, but what if they give up their passions just to go with the stream? I doubt that can be called art. Creating something means giving freedom to one’s vision. Otherwise, art just turns to be purely commercial, and then there is a question of its validity.
However, these are opinions, and we cannot prove them right (like a thesis in science), but only fail to disprove them. In philosophy, some opinions caused great arguments. People tried to disprove others’ opinions and sometimes they succeed. Leibniz and Malebranche on mind-body interaction depended purely on their personal perception of God, which was different for each. In his essays, Leibniz seems to be very outraged by Malebranche’s take on the issue and his philosophy of occasionalism, and although he doesn’t address him directly, he constantly hints at Malebranche’s philosophy. Leibniz, however, became much popular than his rival when he managed to prove Malebranche’s opinion wrong (which can still be questioned.) Thus, we do have opinions and they are different from one another. They should neither outrage nor make others excited. They are like someone else’s properties that are just there and thus, cannot be criticized or taken by someone from the outside.
The events like this are highly important because throughout history, people have been getting together and sharing their opinions, and that’s how they learned. I can say that I learned a lot from this event because it was live and I could interact with other people and ask questions. It is also important from the point of the history of art as it covers some of the major changes that art is going through. Around the world, such events are organized in order to encourage people look into art much deeper and take it much more serious. A similar event, although a much smaller one, recently took place at a local coffee shop, where people gathered to discuss Andy Warhol, who was known to be a very controversial figure as well. Another purpose of such events is to teach people not to be scared to express their opinions.
In this paper, I have talked about the cultural event that hugely influenced me and that discussed some of the famous opinions on art, including Brik’s take on photography and painting and Krauss view of sculpture. These articles once again proved that although opinions can cause a wide variety of emotions, including frustration and rage, we do need them in order to argue about art and preserve its diversity. If opinions didn’t exist, the whole point of art criticism would be lost. In order for us to learn to state our opinions, the cultural events like this one exist.
References
Leibniz, G. W., Ariew, R., & Garber, D. (1989). Philosophical essays. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub.
Malebranche, N. D., & Bardout, J. (2006). De la recherche de la vérité. Paris: J. Vrin.
Brik, O. (2015). Photography versus Painting. Retrieved February 17, 2016, from http://theoria.art-zoo.com/photography-versus-painting-osip-brik/
Krauss, R. (n.d.). Sculpture in the Expanded Field.
