A few years ago I was looking through a box of books we had been gifted by the universe.
Amongst them was an older book that striked my attention, it was art related, but it lead me to someone more famously known as a Philosopher. I'm really glad I found it, it made me think about art in a new way, and maybe you will too after reading this blurb.
The Book is called "Watercolor at Large" by O'Hara from 1946, one of the opening pages had a tiny quote saying "Art Can not live and grow" amongst some other words.
Those six words, Art Can Not Live and Grow..
I thought, "how could it?" Then.. "How could it not??"
"Art can not live and grow"... this statement got me thinking that art DOES grow, and DOES Live, within the person, for what we are/have created is merely an impulsion (see note 1) of a whole.
At this point, I was so fascinated by the thought my art hanging on the wall was alive and possibly growing that I set the book down very carefully, and ran to the computer to indulge in more modern day research.
Those six words alone showed me the way to John Dewey from the early 1900's, famously known for his works on Pragmatism (see comment 2), discussions Aesthetics (See note 3), and Art as Expression.
Simply put, art is only part of the whole, even though one piece of art does not necessarily continue to change as you do, but the next piece and the piece after do. A piece of artwork is a representation of your past experiences and emotions, all representing only part of the whole LIFE experience of the creator (me or you!), formed by two mediums. For example, the paint and the emotion or experience, the two together make their own product, a product to the whole (life).
He expresses it perfectly, and offers a good understanding of it all, far better than I could ever explain. If you have the time, you should indulge into his work “Art as Experience”.
Art products exist externally and physically, whereas, on his view, the work of art is really what the physical object does within experience. I was so happy to see that someone else thought like I did, that art in fact does live and grow, it’s a matter of perception. You can’t separate art from the experience.
After realizing all of this I now have a better understanding of my art AFTER I declare it a final product, I can understand myself more because of this. Because I found this book..
It makes me so happy to share my own Art work with you all here, stay tuned for my next Original Painting <3
Notes:
1.) “Impulsion,” as distinguished from “impulse,” is a developmental movement of the whole organism in response to a need arising from interaction with the environment, for example a craving for food. It is the beginning stage of a complete experience, whereas impulse is momentary, for example a tongue reacting to a sour taste.
2.) Pragmatism is a late 19th Century and early 20th Century school of philosophy which considers practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of both meaning and truth. At its simplest, something is true only insofar as it works. However, Pragmatism is not a single philosophy, and is more a style or way of doing philosophy.
In general terms, Pragmatism asserts that any theory that proves itself more successful in predicting and controlling our world than its rivals can be considered to be nearer the truth.
3.) Aesthetics definition: the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of art and with judgments concerning beauty.
Hope you enjoyed the read!