What is art? is a question about those activities that are considered artistic. Here are example of such activites:
Liberal education. Starting in Middle Ages, from the 12th century extending into the present, universities brought together the sciences, mathematics, design studies (mainly architecture), philosophy, creative studies (painting and sculpture) and literature in a curriculum that was considered liberating. Such an education aimed at liberating the mind, freeing it from a reliance on opinion and encouraging logical reasoning as a means of describing findings.
A recent study of liberal education has identified the following outcomes of such an education:
knowledge of human culture and the natural world that includes the sciences (traditionally, chemistry, biology, physics and astronomy), mathematics (mainly, geometry and algebra reaching toward the more recent study of mathematical analysis, topological spaces and algebraic structures), humanities and the arts.
liberal arts skills include written and oral communication, critical and creative thinking, quantitative and informative literacy, individual and social responsibilities. For more about this, see
http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/umi-uncg-1627.pdf
Dialogical art: Works of art typically provoke dialogue among viewers, typically in response to a finished object. In dialogical art projects, the conversation becomes an integral part of the work itself. This form of art produces new and unanticipated forms of collaborative knowledge. For more about this, see
http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/6063/1/MBRADFIELD_Thesis_SPREAD_24_06_13.pdf
Polyform art: The term polyform refers to collections of repeated edge-connected shapes that cover a part or all of a Euclidean space. The space can be either flat surface in the plane or a volume. Recently, polyforms have been introduced by D. Markovic in paintings (see, for example, the attached image). Polyform art provides a powerful vehicle for mathematics education, since it offers imaginative explorations of space using various combinations of geometric shapes full of colour, pleasing to eye, and encouraging an intuition of the infinite reaches of space as polyforms stretch toward the edges of a visual field. For more about this, see
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Markovic_Doko
Creative mode of knowing and learning: Recently, art has been described as a creative mode of knowing. See Section 8, starting on page 112, in
http://www.neurohistoriasztuki.umk.pl/pliki/danielleboutet.pdf
Art as communication: In his essay What is art? Tolstoy contended that art is communication of the feelings of a creator of a work to an audience. A measure of the value of a work of art is proportional the number of people influenced by the work. For more about this, see
http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/1474/1/umi-umd-1595.pdf
The problem with Tolstoy's view of art is that it is limited to emotion. Obviously, there are a considerable number of elements reflected in works of art besides an effort to convey emotion. Examples of non-emotive elements of works of art are the Desarguesian (projective) geometry of polyform art, the use of perspective in Italian art, the use of the ciascuro effect (illuminated objects in the presence of a light source), the spatial 3D geometry of vaulted ceilings in ancient cathedrals and mosques and the symmetries, elegance, vision and depth of various forms of Mathematics such as theorem of Pappus of Alexandria (ca. 3rd Century AD) that yields what is known as the Pappian line (see the attached drawing).
Even with all these points of view, it is apparent that there is no clear answer to the question What is art? The same term is used to describe painting, sculpture and architecture, which appear to have something in common to merit our calling such works artistic. But then this term is also use to describe pure mathematics. To say that pure mathematics is a form of art suggests something quite different from what Tolstoy had in mind. It is also the case that chemistry, physics and astronomy are forms of art. In what sense, are these sciences forms of art? So it appears that there are very different forms of art. What are they. What is meant by the term art in each of its forms?
Art means "Farshchian"
http://www.farshchianart.com/
Dear James,
Very good question and interesting prelude.
We can look art as we know it from two perspectives. The innate art works displayed by nature to mesmerize and fascinate us and the art we human do either by mimicking nature or the art we create by challenging our brain of creativity, power of reasoning, logic and of course that of imagination to please, challenge or fascinate us.
I will say, art has two levels of observations, one from the surface and the look that appeals to our instant sensations and the other is from the inner intricacies and abstractions behind the facade of the art works, which the later constitutes the inner, mathematical or physical sciences observation and analysis.
The degree of complexity and sophistication of human art works indicate the advancements humans made in cultures of abstractions, science and mathematics and the accumulation of knowledge of nature.
@George Stoica: somebody once said that ``the value of the work of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its chosen medium to strike some universal chord by the rarity of the skill of the artist or in its accurate reflection in the spirit of the time``.
If possible, please give the source of this perceptive observation about art. From what you have written, it would seem that not only the value of art but also the art itself transcends the limits of its chosen medium. This is the case with cosmology, for example, where one speculates about the origin, nature and limits of the universe. This is also the case with mathematics, where one is free to speculate about convexity in higher dimensional space, a space that transcends the limitations of the physical world. And this is true of the art combined with geometry in the work of Escher, whose drawings usually provide paths with extents that hint at the infinite reaches of space.
And then there is the Hilbert hotel, where there is always room for one more guest, not matter how many travellers ask for lodging for the night. Hilbert's hotel is a quintessential art form that transcends the limits of all known dwelling places.
Dear Prof. James,
A formal definition of art says "An art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power".
Simply, art is a form of communication. As famous philosopher R. Wollheim remarked, art is one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture. The link attached is about twenty five responses to the question "What is an art?"
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. - Thomas Merton
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57501/27-responses-question-what-art
Dear all,
this is a beautiful question (James, thank you for posing it) and the one that we can make uncountable answers to, and even true answers, all of them. It depends whether we look at it from the perspective of authors, or consumers, the artworks itself, or the process, emotionally or cognitively, individually or collectively, and many, many more continua that we can observe an art from.
From the humankind perspective... I would say it is a human need, extremely sophisticated and spiritual, but need... in a way, it's a way of extending ourselves and our existence... the way we conquer the death... isn't it... and whenever our mind deny the common logic and meets the cosmic one (that is why the math is also art, in my opinion)... art happens.
And yes, I would agree with Djoko, it is a way of reaching the freedom... by releasing ourselves from gravity, releasing ourselves from ourselves, and getting close (closest) to Logos.
J.
"We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth"
Pablo Picasso
"Ideas alone can be works of art….All ideas need not be made physical.…A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist’s mind to the viewer’s. But it may never reach the viewer, or it may never leave the artist’s mind."
Sol LeWitt
Dear Djoko,
what kind of personal experience did you mean that we need in order to fully understand and appreciate art? Like being an artist ourselves?
It's my birthday, and here is my favorite painting to look at...
Have a nice day all of you,
J.
Good question with long description.
My view about art is - entirely it depends upon everyone's interest.
Whatever, we are seeing thro' our eyes are art. Beautiful garden, nice streets, barking dog, mess made by kids, scolding by my mother, etc.... etc... (sorry, I can't do the full list - it'll take days to complete)
At first, we need to be a good observer to enjoy the art instead of putting our head inside and searching for the art.
Life is short, art is long, often quoted as ‘Ars longa, vita brevis’, after Seneca's rendering in De Brevitate Vitae sect.
Hippocrates
Caravaggio used light and dark lighting effects, called chiaroscuro, in his painting that would have been impressive to the people of the time.
"There was art before him and art after him, and they were not the same." Robert Hughes, art critic of Time magazine
@Brenda Jacono: Here are a couple of nature shots that I think fit my definition of art...so often try to capture in time those that take our breath away. Great works of art do as well...
The pictures in your post are excellent. These pictures reflect a sensitivity to the golden section in the composition of a scene before capturing the image with a camera. It is well-known that the most pleasing subdivision of space is in the golden section.
The golden section of a length is approximately 0.618.
In the attached image (borrowed from your post), the approximate locations of the golden section along the horizontal and vertical axes of the picture are indicated white lines. This picture is a good example of art. The eye is drawn to the dominant part of the picture, namely, the tree with its trunk located approximately in the golden section along the horizonal. For more about the golden section in geometry and art, see
C.D. Green, All that glitters: A review of psychological research on the aesthetics of the golden section, Perception 24, 1995, 937-968:
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/papers/Green.golden.Perception-1995.pdf
I would rather think of art as an escape from the axiomatic framework of logic and reasoning and only using the intuition and the creative skills to come up with works that appeal to the soul or the inner energy. In art the focus is not on whether the creation is logical or connected to reality in some defined manner but rather a metaphysical connection. Using colors, similarities abstract structures to represent things which may carry different meaning for different people rather than the universality of a mathematical equation which has constant meaning regardless of any other parameter. This view maybe flawed as I am neither an artist nor a philosopher to comment on this issue
@Marković G. Đoko: Art photography does not belong to the art of painting.
@Brenda Jacono: I was not saying that art photography belongs to the art of painting. There are in my view many genres of art,
Agreed. Art photography and the art of painting belong to different genres. It seems that closer a painting is representationally to an actual object, the closer art photography is to the art of painting.
Actually, it is helpful to distinguish between photographic film-based art and digital image art. The faithful ness of digital image in capturing a scene depends on the number of optical sensors in the optical array of a digital camera. The greater the number of optical sensors, the closer a digital image is to an image captured in photographic film exposed to light in either a pinhole camera or an old-fashioned photographic film camera (my father used one for years and my father was also a portrait painter).
The key to the distinction between photographic art and the art in painting is in the composition of a scene in a photograph and the composition of the parts of painting. The beauty of painting is that an artist can interpret what is observed. By contrast, a photographer is limited to a choice of arrangements of the observed objects captured by a camera.
Dear Brenda Jacono and Marković G. Đoko,
This is a great discussion! I agree with the points that both of you have made.
"Caravaggio is the first artist in history whose paintings seem directly concerned with his own life. Ten years before Shakespeare invented Hamlet, Caravaggio painted Saint Francis in solitary dialogue with a skull. Caravaggio introduced soliloquy into painting at the same time that Shakespeare perfected it in drama.”
John T. Spike
To F.Dostoevsky, "Metaphysical realism plays a role of the lift to ascend from the level of fantasy to subjective reality, and from it-to intersubjective one"."It's a seismogram,warning about tomorrow eathquake".To Lotman,"Art is a form of thinking, without it a human consciousness can't exist. We are inside arts, it is in us, and we are in it.We can't go out of arts, as well as we can't go out of a native language, that's why art is we" It's a powerful creative laboratory, leading to katarsis.If you are interested in- my paper on the conference "Arts in Society" https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267625750_Classics_as_awareness_of_the_infinite#share
It's M.K.Ciurlionis "Forest"http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/3874862/post207008321
Conference Paper Classics as awareness of the infinite
To Rubinstein,"It's a process of intellectual activity on moral assimilation of reality (interiorization), a transformation of external activity into internal one, a creative comprehension of the external world.". M.K.Ciurlionis-a composer and an artist.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX_6web_lb8 M.K.Ciurlionis is famous for synthesis of arts, "musical painting".To him, "There are no borders between arts; music unites poetry, painting in itself and has its own architecture" . To Berdyaev, "Art is a heart of a folk.Only through art and wisdom humanity can understand each other"
To L.Vygotsky, "Art is a common (collective) technology of feelings".Through cultivation of reflection, which is realized in the process of critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving technologies we can achieve the greatest results in awareness of the infinite.
... It is realized that the visual arts solve their technical problems with criterion the
harmonious management of the systems proportions that they evolve. (In art it is required that these proportions be precise as with the meaning of the mathematical term). The visual art reality is tangible and involves qualitative reasonable approaches in order to create a new reading of matter.
http://atmito.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/visual_art_approach_squaringtheCircle_intro_en.pdf
A) Perception of the totality from visual artists’ point of view (through segmentation) 12 basic definitions
1. Minimum is a relevant proportional concept which expresses the simplest marginal structure of an amount, situation or system.
2. Maximum is a multiplicity of minimum quantities or conditions.
3. Minimum (subjected to segmentation) and maximum (of the rest) compose the wholeness.
4. Minimum and maximum are two dialectically related entities not only with reverse concept but also with reverse properties.
5. Minimum can never be considered as whole because as a concept it implies that it is part of it.
6. Maximum can not itself be considered as whole because as a concept it implies the minimum.
7. Minimum can not be divided nor can we subtract something from it.
8. Maximum can not be multiplied nor can we add something to it.
9. Minimum can be defined quantitatively as a proportional natural measure for maximum and this relation defines the size of each quantity or condition or system.
10. Maximum is an inevitable, absolute, proportional multiplicity of minimum when the latter is considered as a measure of things, conditions or systems.
A. The last piece (particle) of matter can not be intersected and is called “Atmito” or “Ultimate Minimum”. This was reported for the first time by Democritus (410-370 b.c).
B. In Arts, the ultimate minimum is the shortest line that can not be subdivided in any way.
11. All existing (from visual artists’ point of view) matter is created from the proportional relation of the minimum energy quantities of light.
12. Any (visual artist’s) creation is a proportional composition of rotating layers of minimum circumferences of luminous radiation that is reflected through visual artist’s materials, colors or situations.
Data THE PRINCIPLE OF ARTISTIC CREATION OF THE WHOLE
... The conservation of natural and geometric proportions but also of the basic structural units of a composition is what characterizes the aesthetic stability of an artwork.
http://atmito.net/?page_id=110&lang=en
Art and science... the same starting force... The very same dot that the whole Universe started... unbearable beautiful CREATION force...
Our life is also like an art. Every second, we are painting with respect to time. Sometimes, after very long working hours, hearing shouting of loved ones at home also another form of art.
If someone is able to recognise the difference between internal calmness and external environment then the whole life is going to be a beautiful art.
Art has many faces, but high art is the realization of a novel alternative world.
Every minute is an art.
What we are doing in each and every minute is art of life with numerous amount of colors and meanings.
This is a very good question. Unfortunately, nowadays less and less people speak about mathematics as a form of art.
Can a mathematical result motivate itself by its inner beauty, including the elegance of its proof?
I would risk the statement that a really elegant result sooner or later it will be also useful for something.
But why can't we accept a wider concept of usefulness such as that it pleases the soul, as a painting, or a beautiful poem...?
Dear Sándor Zoltán Németh .
A visual artist’s creation is the proportional composition of routes, directions, minimum energy quantities of light in space and time or a visual artist’s work through the analogue superposition method. (page 15)
http://atmito.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The_principle_of_artistic_creation_of_the_whole_en.pdf
Dear all,
These are mathematical art works of mine. They are as beautiful as you can imagine.
Project title : The Principle of Artistic Creation of the Whole
Through this research we come to the conclusion that : Ιf the ultimate minimum, apart from being a Concept, is an Entity as well and its segmentation is impossible, then the existence of the visual artists’ world as well as our natural world is inevitable.
https://vimeo.com/user15392924/atmito
The galaxy of mathematics and the world of art : Beauty can be seen from two levels : from the outside and from the inside, the intricacies and complications of the structures through mathematics.
"A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a maker of patterns. If his patterns are more permanent than theirs, it is because they are made with ideas " - G. H. Hardy
Actually, another style is emerging in the art of Marković G. Đoko. This new style in art (called polyform art) gets its impetus from geometry.
Polyform transcends the art of the cubist painters such as Picasso and Braque. A cubist artist reduces and fractures familiar objects into geometric forms.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm
This is quite different from Polyform art.
In Polyform art, the inspiration comes directly from geometry. It uses a mixture of colours and shapes to create a tapestry symmetrically and asymmetrically arranges shapes that are highlighted (and connected) with a wide ranges of colours. Unlike the Cubists, a Polyform artist does not portray the distortion of familiar objects in nature using geometric shapes. Instead, a Poyform artist inspires mathematical thinking with its stretching and composition of geometric shapes in various colourful schemes.
To Andrey Rudalyov,"Arts are aimed at the influence on the world with not reflective, but reformative force. To V.Solovyov, "The present arts,grasping the glimpses of eternal beauty in our reality and tending to continue them, anticipate and make us feel the mysterious, forthcoming reality".To B.Pasternak, "Art is busy with two things- it reflects on death and creates life through it.True art exists in two planes- relevant empirism and eternity, creating a unique symphony.The meaning of arts is not only to convert an absolute ideal into the image, but also to spiritualize, "transubstantiate" our today's life." The present arts are absorbed in empirism, but not in the transcendential world" . http://magazines.russ.ru/voplit/2007/4/ru10.html
Simply, posting in RG also an art.
Just roughly 20 years before, we need to write letters by searching address in journal articles - write a letter - waiting for reply, sometime in terms of months - now thro' RG we are able to meet/communicate eminent researchers by having cup of coffee
@Dr Murugesan Muthu: Simply, posting in RG also an art.
Yes, definitely, I agree! RG provides a powerful framework for scholars to exchange ideas and publications with each other. The end result is a forum for us to nurture.
And faciliting scholarly exchanges withing this framework requires a significant amount of artistic skill.
Sometimes an artist has to create an entirely new medium to express an artistic conception. Years ago, I developed a medium that I named "heliokinetic collage", based on the physical principles of birefringence. These are pure light constructions employing no paints or pigments of any kind. They create a volume of changing color and pattern images that the viewer experiences as he/she moves through the space around the art piece. Under a pseudonym, I completed a number of heliokinetic collage back in the 1970s.
http://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?museum=all&t=objects&type=ext&f=&s=&record=2&id_number=1973.5
@Marković G. Đoko,
There is no internet site with an explanation of my heliokinetic collages. I spent about two years experimenting with polarizers and birefringent materials before I was able to reliably combine my materials to create the dynamic light sculptures according to the morphing images I wanted to achieve.
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