Art theory Freeland, ch1 PDF

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Summary of chapter one "blood and beauty"....

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1) Blood and beauty. – Why blood has been used in so much art?! 1) blood and ritual! 1) art as a ritual: ordinary objects or acts acquire symbolic significance through incorporation into a shared belief system.! 2) the theory of art as communal ritual fails to account for the value and effects of much contemporary art.! 3) blood in contemporary art doesn’t forge meaningful associations, but promotes entertainment and profit. ! 4) controversial work was about religion as well as body fluids.! 2) taste and beauty! 1) taste is something that is acquired through values and culture. for hume: a refined ability to perceive quality in an artwork! 2) hume dealt with hard questions about morality, art and taste, key concern of his era.! 3) enlightenment: emotions are the surest way of understanding the truth.! 3) beauty and disinterestedness! 1) kant considers beauty as a judgment.! 4) kant’s legacy! 1) Clive Bell's emphasized 'Significant form' in art rather than content. #! 2) Edward Bullough, described 'psychical distance' as a prerequisite from experiencing art.! 3) —>recent art does not seem defensible within an aesthetic theory that rests upon beauty, good taste, significant form and detached aesthetic emotions.! 5) defending serrano! 1) andres serrano’s piss christ made with the artist’s own urine and a wooden crucifix. this artwork threaten the meaning of religious symbols by juxtaposing them with more secular symbols (e.g. the title).! 2) an expert art critic defends serrano’s work citing ! 1) sophisticated but difficult process of photography! 2) the artist is catholic and part honduran, part afro-cuban, with long traditions of blood and bodily fluids as part of religious rituals ! 3) how serrano is part of a long spanish tradition with artists such as francisco goya painting violent bloody scenes (this art is part of tradition). ! 3) serrano saw himself not as criticizing christianity but the lack of genuine spirituality in contemporary institutions of christianity. in the web of his home-cultural associations, urine is not a symbol of the repulsive. ! 6) goya – a precursor?! 1) Goya's art made people confront the possibilities of human nature in moments of extreme crisis. In his Caprichos series he created savage images of moral depravity....