IMITATIONISM

IMITATIONISM
Imitationalism is a theory of art that judge’s
artwork based on how real it looks.
 WHAT IS THIS TOPIC ABOUT?

An Imitationalist is focused on creating art that looks as real as possible and believes that artistic
success can only be achieved through the exact recreation of an image.

From an Imitationalist viewpoint, if an artwork does not look real or believable it is not of any value.
Some extreme Imitationalists have used their talent for recreating believable space and form to create
works of art that make you think they are actually real. This method of painting is called trompe l'oeil,
a French phrase that means “to fool the eye” and that is exactly what it does.
ART IMITATES LIFE;
LIFE IMITATES ART

The imitationalism or mimetic theory of

art claims that artwork is best when it
imitates life.

We’ve all experienced seeing an

artwork from a distance and mistaking it
for the real thing, rather than a replica.

Those pieces are prized under

imitationalism. The most realistic, the
better.
 PLATO & IMITATIONISM

Plato's influence on western culture

generally is a very strong one, and this
includes a strong influence on the arts,
and on theories of art.

In the case of the arts and aesthetic theory

that influence is mostly indirect, and is
best understood if one knows a little bit
about his philosophy.
 PLATO & IMITATIONISM
• Plato saw the changing physical world as a poor, decaying copy
of a perfect, rational, eternal, and changeless original.
• The beauty of a flower, or a sunset, a piece of music or a love
affair, is an imperfect copy of Beauty Itself.
• In this world of changing appearances, while you might catch a
glimpse of that ravishing perfection, it will always fade.
• It’s just a pointer to the perfect beauty of the eternal. The same
goes for other Essences, like Justice.
• Anyone knows that Real Justice is too much to hope for in this
corrupt world.
 PLATO & IMITATIONISM
• The best you can find is a rough approximation.
• To take a third example, the most carefully drawn circle turns out to be
irregular if you inspect it closely enough. Like The Point, The Line, and all
geometric shapes, The Circle is a mathematical ideal.
• It is not possible to draw a Real Circle, but only an imperfect physical
copy (or instance) of one.
• Beauty, Justice, and The Circle are all examples of what Plato called
Forms or Ideas.
• Other philosophers have called them Universals.
• Many particular things can have the form of a circle, or of justice, or
beauty. For Plato, these Forms are perfect Ideals, but they are also more
real than physical objects.
• He called them "the Really Real".
 PLATO & IMITATIONISM
• The world of the Forms is rational and unchanging; the world of physical
appearances is changeable and irrational, and only has reality to the extent
that it succeeds in imitating the Forms.
• The mind or soul belongs to the Ideal world; the body and its passions are
stuck in the muck of the physical world.
• So the best human life is one that strives to understand and to imitate the
Forms as closely as possible.
• That life is the life of the mind, the life of the Philosopher (literally, the
lover of wisdom).
• Self-control, especially control of the passions, is essential to the soul that
wants to avoid the temptations of sensuality, greed, and ambition, and
move on to the Ideal World in the next life.