Friday, November 20, 2009

Art Definition: Unfair Findings

I was helping one of my children to find a definition of a word for a school homework. I was checking an encyclopedia volume, when I encountered the word "Art". Curious to see the usual cold and even unfair descriptions dictionary-style books give to some things, I put apart that volume (after finding the answer for my child's homework, of course!). When I returned to that book, this is what I found (all the following is translated from spanish):

ART (from latin ars, artis)
1. Virtue and industry for doing something.
2. Act through which men imitates or express the material or invisible, and creates copying or fantasizing.
3. Group of rules for doing something right.
4. Caution, smartness, trick.
5. Fishing gear.
6. Copla, verse of greater art.
7. Verse of lesser art.
8. Stain. Wheel for pulling out water.
9. Logic, physics and metaphysics.

The word "Art" brings to me only an idea close to #2, with a touch of #1. The other meanings "are there", and I know about them, but it is like they were pointing at something else. All right, now I like to mix definition #1 and #2, add a bit of my own, and come out with the following meaning for "Art":

Virtue -that comes in varied degrees, with different edges and sides, very individual for each human being- that promotes or permits us express our unique perception of our surroundings or innner world, using different means for it.

...But the encyclopedia definition says copying is art, too...

It is so easy to think that a "proper" artist must be creative (and innovative too, preferably). Apparently, "copying" is a word that fits effortlessly in the Arts category...

While thinking about this, I remember all the art imitations and copies I have seen. I remember specially copies of paintings (you can guess that as an oil painting artist, I tend to pay more attention to this artistic line over the others). To anyone, it must hurt (a little, enough or a lot) to come across a copy or imitation of his or her artwork, reproduced so effortlessly and shamelessly by another. But, well, they did say in that book that "copying" is Art, too...right?

Forced by this conception and having to start from there, I will TRY to accept that definition, but only under certain conditions. Just then, is when I can put the word imitating "back" around the definition of "Art"."Copying" must be understood to have some levels or degrees for it's proper fit in the definition of Art. If a scale is assigned to represent these levels, it could be as follows:

Level 1 (moderate creativity): The imitator expresses his or her perception of someone else's creation in a unique, very different way. The result is clearly different from the "inspiring" creation, and the imitating author probably admires the original creation, and may even make known the source of his/her artwork.

Level 2 (light creativity): The original creation will peek through many "windows" of the copy, but not so much as to deny an innovative result. The copying author probably admires the original creation and even likes it. Nonetheless, he or she tries to "improve" the original, to show how it "should" look. Or maybe it is just fear of legal trouble a faithful reproduction might carry along. Commercial purposes generally are involved.

Level 3 (absent creativity): The imitator makes a copy of the original creation. He or she may even let everyone know the source, or at least that his or her creation is a copy. This imitator may admire or not the original author, and is moved generally by commercial purposes.

Level 4 (absolute absence of creativity): The imitator copies exactly the original creation and will even sign it as his/her own. After finding out (accidentally or not), there is no comfort for the very surprised original author, no matter what the imitator's motives where.

Only Level 1 and Level 2 can be considered, then, belonging in the Art category, and only if they don't fail at showing their essential relation to creativity. The other levels are clearly in no way part of any Art definition. Copying "fits" Art directly in proportion with the words "create-innovate". The less you create-innovate from your own perceptions on top of the original creation, the more vague the relation to the Art definition will be. ZERO creation-innovation on top of the original means ZERO relation to Art. Period.


Visit my Art Gallery in my Official Site www.esperanzadickson.com!