Philosophy Final Assignment

What Is Art?
Art in Society
Class Discussions

Ege Şahin
2020
 What Is Art?

Thi s questi on has been a l ong-di sc ussed topi c , si nc e the “art” as a c onc ept was
born i nto the hum an m i nd. The answer has al ways c hanged and m orphed i nto
di fferent form s and expressi ons i n between generati ons, c ul tures, peopl e and
so forth. The fi rst thi ng that c om es i nto soc i ety’s m i nd as art nowadays, thanks
to the educ ati onal l abel i ng of studi es, i s the vi sual arts or pl asti c arts. N ot
l ong, but 3000 years ago i n A nc i ent Greec e, pai nti ng or m usi c wasn’t
c onsi dered as art but m ore of a form of entertai nm ent and a form of servi c e,
l i ke c raftsm anshi p. Thi s has c hanged c onstantl y throughout the years i n the
Western c anon of understandi ng, as hum ani ty went through di fferent
threshol ds of m etam orphosi s i n areas suc h as; c ul ture, rel i gi on, phi l osophy and
sc i enc e.

“ In na ture nothi ng i s crea ted, nothi ng i s l ost, everythi ng cha nges. ”

A ntoine-L aur ent de L av ois ier

Thi s fam ous quote from a Frenc h C hem i st provi des a starti ng poi nt on thi nki ng
about the rel ati ons of those above-m enti oned c hanges i n the soc i ety and i n the
vi ew of art. The newl y devel oped tool s gave ac c ess to new ways on the m ode of
produc ti on. Suc h as P apyrus repl ac ed by paper then the usage of pri nti ng and
the wi de ways of di stri buti on wi th the di gi tal c opy. In the c ase of m usi c , the
c om poser was l i m i ted by the i nstrum ents of the era he l i ved i n. A c ousti c
i nstrum ents are sti l l the dom i nant forc e i n the m usi c fi el d of art but that i s
c hangi ng wi th eac h new devel opm ent si nc e the earl y 20 th c entury. D i gi tal
m usi c i s now wi despread and bec om e extrem el y vi tal espec i al l y i n the 21 s t
c entury where al m ost al l the personal m usi c l i steni ng ac ti vi ty i s subj ec t to a
di gi tal transform ati on l et al one the i nvol vem ent of the di gi tal i n the
produc ti on. The possi bi l i ti es whi c h arouse by the i nternet bri ngs the art worl d
never-before thought form s of c onnec ti on, expressi on and resourc es. Thi s
stream and c hange of tool s, m edi um s and m i ndset defi nes the output of the
arti sts therefore the art i tsel f.
Maybe a m ore m eani ngful questi on than “What is Art?” i s “What is Art
Becoming?”. If not onl y, one thi ng that doesn’t c hange duri ng the hi story of art
i s that an art pi ec e regardl ess of i ts era, m ovem ent, styl e or m eani ng i s that i t
gi ves the observer a sensati on.

“The thi ng or the work of a rt – i s a bl oc of sensa ti ons, tha t i s to sa y, a compound of percepts

a nd a ffects”

“The a i m of a rt i s…to extra ct a bl oc of sensa ti ons, a pure bei ng of sensa ti ons”

Deleuze and G uattar i

Based on these statem ents of another Frenc hm en, the art i s a bei ng of
sensati ons. The sensati on oc c urs as a resul t of a c hange i n the i ntensi ty. In the
book “D i fferenc e and Repeti ti on” D el euz e tal ks about i ntensi ty as a di fferenc e.
H e states that “The expressi on ‘di fferenc e of i ntensi ty’ i s a tautol ogy”.
Bec ause the i ntensi ty c an onl y be perc ei ved as the resul t of a di fferenc e, a
c hange. Thi s way of thi nki ng c an even be observed i n thi s very arti c l e i tsel f.
The i ni ti al questi on was “What is Art?” and now i t bec am e “What is Art
Becoming?”, i f c onti nued i t m i ght as wel l c hange too.

A s a c om poser/arti st l i vi ng i n the fi rst hal f of the 21 s t c entury, the fl ui di ty of

defi ni ti ons, proc esses and m i ndsets c onti nue to fasc i nate m e. Thi s i nc l udes the
fl ui di ty of m ysel f wi thi n the c onnec tedness of enti rety. I bel i eve that, work of
art, that supposedl y has strong foundati on, c reated wi th an i ntenti on to
wi thstand generati ons wi l l fal l m uc h faster than the ones wi th fragi l e
m i l estones and si nc ere sensati ons.
 Art i n Soci e ty

A rt i s i nseparabl e from i ts c ontem porary trends. Thi s i nc l udes; tool s,

m ovem ents, pol i ti c al di rec ti ons, c ul tural shi fts, spi ri tual and sc i enti fi c
expl orati ons etc . Therefore, art i tsel f c an’t start a m ovem ent or a c hange by
i tsel f. Just l i ke al l the others i t depends on one another. A rt feeds i tsel f, i n
term s of c ontent, from the trends of i ts c ontem porary and vi c e versa.

There has al ways been a di sc ussi on on “art for art’s sake” or “art for soc i ety’s
sake”. Taggi ng func ti ons on art c an be probl em ati c to a c ertai n extent. If thi s
topi c anal yz ed not i n the i ntenti on but i n the resul t and c onnec ti ons then
better, c l ear assum pti ons c oul d be m ade. There has been no suc c essful
exam pl e of an arti st m aki ng a pol i ti c al c hange, whi c h affec ts the l i vi ng
c ondi ti ons of a soc i ety i n a fast and di rec t way, wi th hi s art onl y. H owever, a
l i ne c oul d be trac ed from an artwork to a pol i ti c al c hange. Thi s i s m ai nl y by the
i nfl uenc e of an artwork on a person who has a pol i ti c al power. A n exam pl e
c oul d be that a pol i ti c al or a nonpol i ti c al -i f that i s possi bl e- artwork
i nfl uenc i ng a group of peopl e and then thei r work i nfl uenc ed by thi s work
c oul d al ter the i deol ogy, bel i ef of a person who i s i n c harge of pol i ti c al seat.
Thi s i nfl uenc e c oul d c om e at a very earl y age or l ater as wel l .

Wi th bei ng aware of suc h a power I bel i eve that art has a trem endous power on
soc i ety. N ot onl y on today’s soc i ety but al so on the soc i ety of the future.
Therefore, I thi nk that i t i s vi tal for an arti st to surround hi m sel f wi th soc i al
awareness and pol i ti c al , c ul tural i nputs from al l si des of di rec ti ons. Whether
i ntenti onal l y or not, al l these c ontents and c hange that c om es wi th suc h
i nform ati on and feel i ngs wi l l fi nd a way to l ay on the art of that person.

A rt i s one of the strongest form s of personal , soc i al c onnec tedness and

expressi on. A c anvas, a book, a sound, a sc ul pture, a c horeography or an i dea
doesn’t refl ec t the ski n c ol or or the nati onal i ty of the arti st i n fi rst enc ounter.
 Cl ass Di scussi ons

D uri ng the c l asses there have been di sc ussi ons on topi c s suc h as; what i s art,
what i s beauty, (un)c om prehensi on of ti m e, l i fe, soc i al c onstruc ts and etc . It i s
i m possi bl e to c over al l the topi c s i n about a one page. Therefore, a l i m i ted
refl ec ti on wi l l be done.

H um an bei ngs understand, c om prehend the thi ngs and the c onc epts around
them by referenc i ng that to a previ ous experi enc e. Som eone c an’t c om prehend
the forest wi thout seei ng any pl ant before. Sti l l i m agi ni ng a forest wi th seei ng
onl y a few pl ants i s al m ost i m possi bl e. K ant dwel l s on thi s i dea on the c onc ept
of Spac e and Ti m e. 10 m i l l i on years i s very di ffi c ul t c onc ept for a hum an bei ng
to grasp. The c onc eptual artwork of On K awara i s not prec i se however, i t
referenc es the gi ganti c ness of a m i l l i on years for a hum an perc epti on, l et al one
a bi l l i on years. I bel i eve that thi s c artesi an way of thi nki ng si nc e D esc artes
where al l the val ue was put i n m i nd and sc i enc e i s fadi ng away. Thi s way of
thi nki ng has l ed hum ani ty to tal k about these c onc epts i n a very easy way.
Therefore, i t was tem pti ng to not thi nk about i t and j ust ac c ept i t as i t i s. In m y
opi ni on, i t doesn’t m atter i f the uni verse i s 13+ bi l l i on years ol d or 10m i l l i on
years ol d. They both are i nc om prehensi bl e for a hum an perc epti on though; it i s
vi tal to know the real val ues to draw c onc l usi ons for the sake of posi ti ve
sc i enc es.

I bel i eve that we c an l i ve a m ore m eani ngful l i fe by pursui ng and

understandi ng the real i ty based on not onl y our m i nd and sc i enc e but al so
through feel i ngs, sensati ons and spi ri tual i ty. The probl em i s that these three
topi c s are al m ost never a subj ec t i n the western m odel of educ ati on.

“. . . i t i s i mpossi bl e to l i ve i n a pl a ce other tha n toda y; when we a re i n a pl a ce, i t i s so

i mpossi bl e to ga i n a vi ewpoi nt on tha t pl a ce. ”

Car los Chav ez