SA Art Explosion: Let's Talk Art: Ref 4 Art Lingo and Tequila

Art Lingo and Tequila

If you are, like me, under the impression that “fine art” is an activity necessitating excessive talent or achievement like in "the fine art of drinking tequila", you are welcome to join me in my attempt to improve my own Art vocabulary.

Introduction

I have a compelling notion that I am not a complete exception and that there are perhaps more friends of artists out there - and maybe even artists themselves - that are equally confused by the Art lingo that are spontaneously vocalised by our learned friends and colleagues at the galleries, exhibitions, arty gatherings, social events and even more liberally in the media.

I never had any art education for the past five decades and what I had before was either inadequate or I am not able to recollect anything that could save me from public humiliation. This was then the motivation do some very superficial, non-exhausting! research to at best get a vague comprehension of what those people are talking about.

Disclaimer: I hope that this article will at least have some value to myself and therefore I would like to state that it is not intended as an academic paper on art or for entering for a prize for literature. Neither would I like to defend a lawsuit for plagiarism or find myself being accused of misrepresentation or distortion of published material. But I will do my very best to make sense of the overwhelming amount of perplexing and inconsistent information on the web and to summarise it in a way that even I can more or less comprehend. I will, therefore, except for one or two quotations, not cite any references. Please feel free to leave any comments at the bottom of this article.

Well, let us now look at my understanding of some of the most frequently used art terminology.

Aesthetics

It was a huge surprise to me to learn that aesthetics is actually a branch of philosophy! Aesthetics apparently explores the nature of art and art-associated concepts and there is an array of principles with regard to the appreciation of beauty and artistic taste.

How to use the term in practice (I traced a few but please also check for yourself):

1) “Aesthetics is important because it helps us understand and judge the various qualities one will find in art. Aesthetics helps painters judge their paintings by themselves”
2) “Most of the sculptures on display were not made to become subject to aesthetic contemplation in western art museums”
3) “It was spectacularly built and was very aesthetically pleasing to the eye.”
4) “The dog has aesthetic appeal", "The dog adheres to its breed's aesthetic", are both correct, but "The dog is aesthetic", it is not idiomatically correct”

Note: I believe it will it be acceptable for me to say: “I find your painting aesthetically pleasing” and I should never say: “Your painting is very aesthetic”. I should work on this one!

Art

It was extremely difficult to find a generic definition for Art as people all have unique ideas of what it constitutes. If we delve deep there are many age-old descriptions as well as countless contemporary deliberations mentioning art.

The most concise description I could find was that “art refers to creativity found in humans to produce objects, environments and experiences through skills and imagination”.

Some other ideas to ponder are:

"Art is a diverse range of human activities creating visual, auditory or performing artworks"
"Art is expressing the creator’s imaginative, conceptual ideas or technical skill"
"Art is intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power"

It seems somewhat clear how the concept of Art should be understood, but I believe the following breakdown of Art into elements, segments and fundamental fragments is slightly more than challenging.

Art Elements (or Art Forms)

According to my research material, the major elements of the Arts are:

Visual Arts (architecture, ceramics, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography and sculpting)

Note: Some sources also mention that it is believed that Applied Arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art should also be acknowledged as Visual Arts.

Literature (fiction, drama, poetry, and prose)
Performing arts (dance, music, and theatre)
Culinary arts (cooking, chocolate making and winemaking).

The above art elements may also be combined as in the following examples:

Visual Art and Performance Art (e.g. cinematography)
Visual Art and Literature (e.g. comics).

Note:

I still have a few concerns:

Food was not mentioned in the Visual Art category – what is more lovely and visually appealing than a chocolate bonbon outside its wrapper or some wine in a glass?
What shall we call Culinary Arts combined with Visual Arts?
I have a friend “painting” with food, is that then Visual Art combined with Culinary Art or is it plainly Visual Art using mixed media?
Are food stylists Visual Artists?
I am getting hungry now.

Before we leave this subject, I need to report that there was lately yet another addition to the existing Art Elements or Art Forms and this is, believe it or not, Social Sculpting! It took a lot of my time to understand this new Element and I will try to summarise it as clearly as possible.

Social Sculpting was invented around 1980 by the artist Joseph Beuys who believed that art has the potential to transform society. These Social Sculptures can be created by applying anything - language, thoughts, actions and objects by anyone - artist or non-artist. (Just my own thoughts – “anything” sounds like mixed media, but “anyone” troubles me - can it then still be defined as Art as such?) According to Beuys however, the only prerequisite for the “sculpture” to be classified as Art, is that it has to be the result of a deliberate act (full stop).

To demonstrate his concept, he orchestrated the creation of a Social Sculpture. Firstly, he initiated the arranging of a huge pile of stones in the form of a large arrow in an open field. The arrow pointed in the direction of a tree that he had planted. He then specified that the stones may not be moved unless a tree was planted in the place of each stone - at the end, 7000 trees were planted.

This venture confirmed (to Beuys, at least?) that a Social Sculpture can deliberately be created by involving a mixture of artistic, academic or scientific disciplines (not only art) and that anyone, not only artists, can participate in creating it.

Note: The explanation of the concept goes much further and deeper into how social transformation can be achieved through creating a Social Sculpture, but I am confident that I now have a fairly good idea of what it represents, so please add it to your list of Art Elements.

Visual Art

As reported above, I found that Visual Art is one of the Elements of Art and learned that it constitutes drawing, painting, sculpting, ceramics, architecture, photography and filmmaking.

For the rest of this article, I am going to explore Visual Art only.

Note: Lately it has been acknowledged that artistic disciplines like conceptual art, textile art and performing arts also “involve aspects of visual arts” as well as “arts of other types”. Sorry for my ignorance, but seeing that filmmaking is included as a proper form of Visual Art, I am questioning why theatre is then excluded? If one films a theatre production, does the film then qualify as Visual Art?

Fine art

Fine Art is a term that is extensively used and I questioned what it actually encompasses and where it should fit into the intricate maze of art terminology. Lazy by nature, I have a nasty habit of taking extremely brief shortcuts and this time was no exception. This is what I found around the first corner of this "alternate route":

“Fine art is:

creative art, especially visual art whose products are to be appreciated primarily or solely for their imaginative, aesthetic or intellectual content.
an activity requiring great skill or accomplishment: ‘the fine art of drinking tequila’” https://www.lexico.com/definition/fine_art

Yes, you are correct, the second definition suits me better. But I guess I should rather focus on the first one and that one is the one that really bothers me. Are we now sitting with fine art being creative art and then visual art as an apparent subdivision of creative art?

What is creative art then?
An even more baffling implication of the term “creative art” is that there is “art” that is not creative?

I had to dig much deeper into cyberspace this time and found another definition that sort of presented a tiny measure of comfort: “Arts is a general term for any craft that requires a level of creativity to master. Fine Arts refer specifically to crafts, generally visual, that focus on aesthetic appeal rather than practical use.”

Note:

Is this then stating that:

Artisans generally falls into the first part of the definition where they create primarily for practical use while Artists may apply the same creativity and skills to, at all times, create for aesthetic appeal?
A distinction between creative art and non-creative art cannot be made, as artisans also create, and the term creative art is therefore meaningless?

We started off exploring the concept of Fine Art, but only found confirmation that things are rarely straightforward in art. I was thus immensely comforted when I found that someone remarked that: “In my opinion, the distinction between fine art and visual art is an artificial one, and there is no hard line between the two”.

Note: In my own belief, Fine Art is synonymous to Visual Art and Visual Art is created solely for aesthetic and intellectual purposes and is judged for its imaginativeness, meaningfulness, beauty, aesthetic value and intellectual content.

Genre

As far as I understand, the term “Genre” is used to group together, understand and appreciate art. Traditionally, until the early 1800s, paintings were divided into five categories or Genres. The genres were ordered in sequence from most important to least significant. This ranking was based on the display value of the paintings in the genre. Artworks in the history genre were most appropriate for public display, followed by portraits, genre paintings (a confusing category name) and landscapes. Still life paintings, the lowest genre, were produced for home use only.

History paintings deal with historical, symbolic, mythical, and religious events and communicated stories about people.
Portraits include paintings of heroes, private people and self-portraits.
Genre paintings are scenes that depict everyday life and include one or more people doing things
Landscapes did not traditionally involve people and sub-types are cityscapes, seascapes, and waterscapes.
Animal painting - horse paintings were popular traditionally
Still life paintings depict flowers, fruits, food, drinks, cutlery and eating, drinking and cooking utensils.

Since their initiation, the main genres have regularly been reorganized and the latest change is the addition of a Genre named Progressive Concepts / Abstraction. The art term “progressive” means that the artist is free and that everything and anything can be admitted into the world of art. Abstract art is about form, colour, line, texture, pattern, composition and process and the artworks do not attempt to depict actual things or objects.

Style

Note: “Style” to me was one of the most difficult terms to understand and clearly describe as there are so many different views of what style actually is. Secondly, the words “style”, “genre” and “movement” are used extremely interchangeably and undifferentiated by people putting their hand on computer keyboard. I am, however, by nature very “boxy” as far as language is concerned and tried my best to clearly distinguish between the terms and to their original meaning.

Style can be divided into general style and individual style.

Individual Style

“Individual style” refers to the work of a specific artist. Artists have individual “ways of doing” as there are certain elements that each artist constantly applies in a distinctive way throughout when creating. Individual styles are developed throughout artists’ lifetime and an artist's style can adapt as the artist grows as an artist and as a person. An artist's personal style usually progresses as the artist gains more confidence through experience, expands their knowledge and acquires more skill.

In critic’s terms, an artist’s style is manifested in the way in which the artist’s subject matter is represented and how the artist’s vision is expressed. The style is then described by characteristics or stylistic elements such as 1) the way form, colour and composition, etcetera is applied, 2) the way the artist handles the medium, 3) the method or technique that the artist uses as well as 4) the philosophy or driving force behind the artwork. Individual styles are understood as characteristic expressions of the mind and personality of the artist.

“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art” Susan Sontag

Artists can also work in many different styles, but, according to the academics, it is better for an artist to focus on one specific style that allows them to express their inner vision as well as to fully develop potential within that style so that they can flourish as an artist.

General Style

Artworks that have certain features in common are considered to have the same style and can then be grouped in terms of a “general” style.

General style can be subdivided into:

Universal style (common styles that may change over time as a result of technological innovation and transformation in the art world),
Historical or period style (art with characteristics of a specific historical period) and
School style (art by artists who shared the same teachers and followed the style they were taught)

Art Movements

A number of artists in the same timeframe who share the same artistic ideals, style, technical approach, etcetera is usually classified together in an “art movement”. Art movements are generally titled after they already started. As many of their names use an -ism suffix, such movements are also referred to as “isms”.

Artworks that have the same style may sometimes be part of the same art movement, but there are also artists today who paint in a style that was defined as a movement some time ago. They are however contemporary artists who are inspired by the particular movements and they are not part of the relevant movements.

General art movements:

Abstract Expressionism: Vigorous, sweeping brushstrokes, dripping and spilling paint.
Art Nouveau: Sinuous, asymmetrical lines based on organic forms.
Avant-garde: Innovative, experimental. (“Avant-garde is French for bullshit” John Lennon)
Baroque: Dramatic motion and detail for drama, tension, exuberance, opulence.
Classicism: Traditional forms, focus on elegance and symmetry.
Conceptual Art: Ideas, theoretical practices, no need for finished product
Constructivism: Abstract, mathematical, not attempting to be art, for social purposes.
Cubism: Geometric planes, fragmented compositions, Picasso.
Dadaism: Negative response on traditions, shocking people into self-awareness.
Expressionism: Distortion, exaggeration, fantasy, violent colour, inner feelings.
Fauvism: Strong, vibrant colour, bold brushstrokes, realistic.
Futurism: Dynamism, speed and energy of modern mechanical world.
Impressionism: Visual ‘impressions’, emphasize movement and changing light qualities.
Installation art: Large-scale, mixed-media constructions
Land Art: Directly in the landscape, sculpting land with rocks or twigs.
Minimalism: Simple, geometric shapes no representational content.
Neo-Impressionism: Measured, systematic technique, based on science and optics.
Neoclassicism: Subsequent take on classical Greek and Italian art.
Performance art: Created through live or recorded performances, spontaneous or scripted.
Pointillism: Countless tiny dots of pure colour in patterns to form an image.
Pop Art: Popular imagery emphasizing banal or kitschy elements of everyday life.
Post-Impressionism: Emotional responses, bold colour, expressive or symbolic images.
Rococo: Elaborate ornamentation, light and sensuous style.
Surrealism: Liberating, promoting the irrational, the poetic and the revolutionary.
Suprematism: Abstract, expressed in simplest geometric forms and dynamic compositions.

New Art Movements:

Kitsch: Cheap, vulgar, and mass-produced, low-brow.
Neo-Futurism: Characteristically post-post modern
Thinkism: Questions environment change, influence of geo-political and man-made forces.
Mass-Surrealism: Uses mass media, video, graphic production to make artistic statements.
Altermodern: Against cultural standardization, massification, nationalisms, cultural relativism.
Abject Art: Transgressive, offensive, focuses on crap.

“Modern paintings are like women; you'll never enjoy them if you try to understand them.” Freddie Mercury

Conclusion

Well, dear readers, I have attempted to explore some of the key art terms to get a better understanding of them and to allow me to use them with a fair measure of confidence. My initial realisation at take-off was, being confronted by the tons of information before me, that I really knew very little about the subject. Then, even more scary, it came to mind that I first had to be very careful not to make a fool of myself, but secondly, and more importantly, not to misinform readers of this forum.

In my own view, my exercise to provide an overview of vital art terminology to myself was successful. I can now confidently mention terms like Art Elements, Visual Art, Style, Genre and Movement and even make (very) small talk about Art Movements!

I, however, realise that, although it was most enjoyable and valuable, I have only scraped the tip of the “artberg” and need to read much more on the subject of art.

Lastly, I leave you with a remark delivering a sound and clear motive for my quest for art knowledge:

“Whenever I listen to an artist or an art historian, I'm struck by how much they see and how much they know--and how much I don't. Good art writing should therefore do at least two things. It should teach us how to look at art, architecture, sculpture, photography and all the other visual components of our daily landscape. And it should give us the information we need to understand what we're looking at.” William Knowlton Zinsser

Monday, June 22, 2020

Let's Talk Art: Ref 4 Art Lingo and Tequila