PHIL230 Study Guide

Anyone have any idea what terms could be on this?

For the artwork, are any of the WOA in the reading fair game, or just the ones he showed us in class? Alexey said “There are 9 artworks on the exam list, and not all of them were discussed in class. You'll be asked to identify and explain at least two of them.”lllll

Brain storm time! What could those artworks be? Van Gogh ­ Peasant Shoes Matisse ­ The Joy of Life Picasso ­ Les Demoiselles d’Avignon // Guernica Jasper Johns ­ Target with Four Faces Duchamp ­ The Fountain Warhol ­ Brillo Boxes Rembrandt ­ Christ Before Pilate Brueghel ­ "Carry" Rembrandt­Bel Shazz Those two beds The white canvas with the grayish border Tracey Emin­My bed Piet Mondrian­(squares) Paddington station­Frith Poussin­Ulysses discovering Achilles among the daughter of Lycomedon Daumier ­ Gare St. Lazare Twombley (the curly line guy) ­Cold stream These are all the basic/main ideas, idk if there will be more on the test. Alexey said that the

artworks mentioned in some of the readings will be on the test so if someone could explain those a little more, it would be very much appreciated!

I am making notecards on Koofers as well...enjoy (How can we find them on Koofers?) Go to koofers then phil230 notecards

will the final have the info from the first midterm? no right? maybe in the concepts/theories section? Nope The Koofers link: https://www.koofers.com/flashcards/phil­final­vocab/review

I made another set, they include the info from this guide If someone puts up notes on all the artworks that we went over, i will put up a word doc with

notes for the readings that will be on the final. I think the artworks are in the readings no? I’m not sure.. Does anyone know if this exam will be formatted like the midterm? mc and short answer?

Yeah he said 34 or 35 MC and 10 short answers and then we have to identify 2 artworks and explain them? He mentioned that the exam’s MC will be broken like this:

­6 Questions on Bell/Fry ­ lol… “Belfry” ? That’s easy way to remember them together ­6 Questions on Tolstoy ­6 Questions on Collingwood ­4 Questions for Dewey (thing of “Doing”…) ­1 Question per remaining text ­We have to identify 10 concepts/theories. Much like what we did on the midterm Alexey said we’d have to identify 8 concepts like on the last exam and 2 artworks (identify

them, the concepts behind them, what paper they were mentioned in & the significance behind them)

Alexy also mentioned that there will be some questions where a work of art will be mentioned and we have to explain in which theory it is used as an example and how it fits within that theory.

Clive Bell ­ “Art” ­ Formalism : Significant Form predominates as the main evaluative

component to studying art, not Aesthetic Emotion. Aesthetic Emotion is evoked by art, not nature.

Representation is at conflict with pure perception of significant form most of the time. One can’t focus on both at the same time. One perceives emotions in the forms.

The 3­Dimensional element of representation is the only pertinent representational element important in studying Significant Form.

Notes from class: Formalism: the most important thing in art (to Bell) Isolationism: You don’t need context, history of creation. Just view the art work and focus on

its form Significant form: What stirs aesthetic emotions. What makes art, art Significant form = a combination of lines and colors that stir our “aesthetic emotion” To appreciate art, we don’t need emotion or external factors Works of art are the only things that stir aesthetic emotions Aesthetic emotions are emotional responses to the purely formal features of a thing Significant form=art Significant form is apparent/ not hindered=good art Technical mastery can also contribute to aesthetic value The 3D space of a painting is dependent on the objects in the picture If you ignore the representations, you wouldn't be able to grasp the space (3D)

Ex­When you listen to language, you just pay attention to the sounds and not what the sounds mean

2 types of reactions/appreciations (not aesthetic): Human beauty Natural things/nature

Paddington Station ­ Frith (contended not to be art by Bell) (was talked about in class) Roger Fry ­ “Art as Form” Art Critic: Formalism in application : Works such as by

Breughel, Daumier, Poussin and Rembrandt are studied for balance, shape, and other elements having nothing to do with the psychological element of the works (i.e. representation, content, emotions).

Brueghel “Carrying of the Cross” ­ Illustration, not art, because it’s too cluttered formally Daumier “St. Lazare Station” ­ More artful because it inspires curiosity about scene, life

emotions Poussin ­ Formally correct but boring! No aesthetic inspiration, no curiosity into the scene Rembrant ­ Some spatial disharmony, but psychologically compelling

(when rereading this work it seemed like he praised both poussin and rembrant to a certain extent)

Brueghel ­ Carrying of the Cross

Daumier ­ Gare St. Lazare

Poussin­ Ulysses discovering Achilles among the daughter of Lycomedon

Rembrandt ­ Christ before Pilate

Tolstoy ­ “What is Art?” aesthetic experience is one you get from emotion pleasure, happiness satisfaction, not

distinctively an aesthetic feeling definition of art: an object is an work or art if and only if it is created by an artist who has a

particular emotion or feeling and second successfully made a person feel the same way they did then the object is a work of art if it has not infected anyone with the emotion then it cannot be considered a work of art until it has infected someone with it..

2) definition of good art: infectiousness? depends on 3 things, on the greater or lesser feeling that is transmitted, unique, individuality of the feeling….clarity of the feeling (you know what it is trying to say) with which the feeling is transmitted, easy to apprehend it, and finally the sincerity of the author….and the bind of emotion, can transmit 2 kinds of

emotions, emotions that are accessible to everyone, emotions that everyone can understand and the second Christian emotions, why? contributes to the unity of mankind

Notes from class: Emotionalist­arts main business is to convey states of mind, emotion Beauty is subjective and varies from person to person Says that people without education and pleasure don’t take pleasure in things­particular to

class Art is a human activity in which one purpose consciously hangs on to, transmits feelings, that

he has experiences Formal: how intense or how many people affected Material: What emotions transmitted must be feeling that unite Good intentions are not enough­needs to be a “complete pass” Best art: Religious art. Universal art. Art that is good in content/emotion. Brotherly love What infects them: Individuality of feelings Clarity with which the feeling is transmitted Sincerity of artist You get aesthetic experience through clarifying your emotion Transmits a feeling that is unique, clear, and sincere Art: created by an artist who has a particular emotion or feeling and it has transmitted that

emotion to at least one person I feel like it wasnt addressed that Tolstoy clearly disagreed with the sentiment of art in his

time, and basically called out numerous works of art as counterfeit. And it was by means of infectiousness by which we could separate the two (before referenced as good or bad art). He also places a huge emphasis on religion and religious perception being the means by which people of certain societies view certain art as good vs bad; religious perception is aligned with the meaning to life and that art that expresses this meaning to life(according to the religion adopted by that society) is judged as good by those that are within that society.

Collingwood ­ “The Principles of Art” This one is missing some points of the main idea but here is some basic info

difference between craft and art 1. art there is no distinction between start and end (classified vs individualized, craft looks towards an end and produces something to make that end, which is general, while art is expressed and individualized as every experience is common only to that one experience) 2. no distinction between 3. art has no distinction between form and matter? i think...

how an artwork is created, at first an artist experiences some emotion, but the artist cannot identify the emotion he doesn't know what it is and the fact he doesn't know makes him

unhappy so this gives him motivation to express it —­> trying to express it he generates an object or several that he uses to apprehend the sensory data in order to —> generate an imaginary experience of total activity = work of art

example; painter has an emotion, he then creates a painting, uses it and gets certain visual data, “” = and that is how the work of art is created…

the physical objects are byproducts of the actual work of art, the art is the imaginary experience of total activity, he thinks you must create this in order to get the visual data or other data, in some cases it isn't necessary to generate a physical entity

How we (ordinary people) appreciate a work of art, he believes that ordinary people are also artists because we are able to recreate works of art from the byproducts that are made by the artist. we use the byproducts to recreate an imaginary experience and if it is similar than we can say we have then we have managed to successfully appreciate the work of art

Notes from class: 6 themes: 1. Art vs. craft 2. Art conceived of an expression proper 3. Creating vs. fabricating 4. Artwork is an imaginary object (a tune) 5. The work of art is an imaginative experience of total activity 6. The externalization of the artwork is the physical object Art vs Craft

Craft involves making things that have a clear purpose for practical use. Art doesn’t have a practical purpose and isn’t aimed as utilitarianism ( has a meaning and expresses something). No distinction between start and end. no between planning and execution. no between form and manner.

Marks of craft Planning is distinct from execution Raw material is distinct from final product There is an end or finals work (means vs. end) Ex­poetry

End (producing an emotional effect) Means (comfy chair, good lighting, dog at your feet) Planning (not necessary unless it is long) Raw materials (none)

Something can be a craft object and an artwork, though an artwork doesn’t exist in physical form

In the course of making a craft, you may end up making an artwork Art is a mental entity

You can create music without actually creating a canvas or score The experience of creating and experiencing the artwork fuses Total imaginative experience:

When the product is visual, that doesn’t mean that the experience is purely visual An awareness of warmth, stillness, strength in a multi­sensory way

There are two experiences that are inseparable and form a single experience Externalization is required to communicate with an audience We can never absolutely know the imaginative experience How an artwork is created a. an artist experiences an emotion b. The artist cannot identify it c. Has a feeling of dissatisfaction d. Motivates him to try to express the emotion e. He produces an entity that he uses to apprehend particular sensory data f. Uses this to produce an imaginary experience of total activity g. It is this experience that is a work of art (not the physical object)

Dewey ­ “Having an Experience” (Could this explanation be simplified a bit more?) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dewey­aesthetics/#HavExp found a good explanation an experience that is unified, started and is ending at a particular time, that is an experience

and unified by virtue of aesthetic quality (emotional) an interaction of doing and undergoing Doing ­ Changing the environment Undergoing ­ Reaction to that change ** are not very different is what he thinks about the aesthetic and the artistic usually we

apply the term artistic to the act of production and we apply aesthetic to the act of perception…both artistic and aesthetic since any creation of art include both of the acts

as a result we cannot say that it is just artistic or aesthetic; he thinks that since there is no such term we can call out act of creating works of art they can be both artistic and aesthetic ­ creation of art

when we perceive a work of art we should reconstruct the experience that the artist had while he was creating it

An experience: narrative quality with fixed placements of time: beginning, middle and end. Unified, stands out. The end is a conclusion and is not abrupt or incomplete in feeling. And interaction of person with environment.

NOT an experience: Real life, autonomously controlled action/reaction, loose succession. Best aesthetic experience: Doing and Undergoing are in proper balance. A good artist actually goes through doing and undergoing in order to create the final product. Notes from class: Essential ideas An experience vs experience in general

A certain kind of unity within a stretch of time or experience Doing and undergoing Expenentiality (more=more artistic)o999999999999999 Experience2q

Involves interactions between person and environment No evidence that the artwork is a mental activity

An experience: experience that is unified (has a beginning, middle, end) Ex: a bike ride, a class over a semester Has a particular aesthetic quality (emotional)

An experience results from an interaction between doing and undergoing The aesthetic: the act of perception The artistic: the act of production Act of creating works of art=artistic/aesthetic When we perceive a work of art we should reconstruct the experience that was experienced

by its artist Monroe Beardsley ­ “The Creation of Art” ­ Opposed 3 preexisting theories: Divine

Inspiration Theory, Propulsive Theory (Collingwood), Finalistic Theory. He rules each one out by giving exceptions that disqualify them.

Beardsley Theory on the Creation of Art: 1­Begins with the Incept (whatever idea/emotion/image the artist originally starts with), 2­Realization of the Incept, 3­Evaluation of Realization X, 4­Change of X in light of Evaluation thus creating X*, 5­Repeat Evaluation and Change steps until satisfied. In other words, the artwork is continuously being transformed by evaluation, and has the

ability to be completely different finished product from the original Incept. The creative process is controlled by divine inspiration theory and gods Propulsive theory: controlled by an initial impulse Finalistic theory: Controlled by the idea of the final goal The artist doesn’t know his final goal 1. An artist has an inceptive element, germ, cell, seed, nucleus (invective) 2. Realization of the incept, some entity is created X (invective) 3. The artist evaluates X (selective) 4. Artist changes X in light of his critical evaluation, he creates an improved version

(inventive) 5. Evaluation of X (selective) 6. Continues until he sees that the product cannot be improved 7. Finished work of art Martin Heidegger ­ “The Origin of the Work of Art” Things things and things Mere Things ­ nature’s way of forming matter, no practical function (ex. clouds and rocks) Artifacts ­ Tools, man­made, form determines its disposition and function Art ­ Has a strong Form, but Tool mediates between Art and Mere Things Van Gogh Peasant Shoes ­ makes a ready­to­hand object (object in use) into a

present­to­hand object (object not in use). The detachment from the object makes it better than the actual thing while it’s being function

Purpose of Art ­ To open up a world into existence (ex. the world of the peasant’s shoe which is taken for granted), and reveal Truth

Notes from class: Mission of artwork: An analysis or practical function that is intended to reveal truth Character of equipment: Ready­to­hand (you are using the tool and aware of it as something you are using) Present­to­hand (you examine the tool in a more detached way in term of its

characteristics) Artwork involves the mission of the work and to reveal the truth which it depicts It gives you insight into the world World­something that connects to a sentient being (only humans have worlds) Leo Steinberg ­ “Contemporary Art and the Plight of Its Public” Art Critic Matisse “Joy of Life” ­ Messy in form!

Jasper Johns “Flat” Pictures ­ annoying, because there is no exceptional form, but almost

purely conceptual. Couldn’t understand them. Johns’ pictures also had 3D element. Absence of human nature.

Maitsse’s joy of life not after giving interesting details that are finely polished and exact, want to give a

sense of motion ­ looseness and indefiniteness of of the figures, makes eye continue circling around the whole rather than focusing on a particular detail

ensemble of vague images giving the painting a rhythm first state discomfort b/c aware of what not being given

Twombley (the curly line guy) ­ Equally absurd, devoid of human nature

Frank Sibley ­ “Aesthetic Concepts” ­ Aesthetic terms are not condition governed. This

means that a term such as “elegant” “lively” “morose” etc. don’t have a set number of elements which a work needs to reach a “maximum” level in order to gain the term. Forms have strict definitions (ex. Square, Circle), but personalities, ideas, and psychological features do not. We give aesthetic terms through inference, not condition. Some examples of aesthetic terms include metaphors, original terms (ex. delicate), and dead (cliche) metaphors.

Notes from class: Levels: Terms (words) Concept that terms express (metaphors) Properties that terms refer to (dead metaphors) Taste: to notice aesthetic features of things

Something that requires more than the five senses Aesthetic terms are not condition­governed Jorge Luis Borges ­ “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” ­ Two exactly similar works

with different contexts will thereby be considered different works, because the context is just as important as the content. Context makes something original.

Kendall Walton ­ “Categories of Art”

Notes from class: If you have taste, aesthetic properties are present or not

There is no rule to justify your impression No meaning between red, square, balance, etc.

Categorical framing: Frames you use to focus your attention on artwork. The way you frame it categorically determines how it appears to you. People can be right or wrong when they explain artworks in an aesthetic sense.

Contra standards: having something stick out in the middle (holes in the canvas). Features that tend to make you think that maybe this isn’t a painting (color is a variable feature) Ex­a symphony has many contra­standards compared to a statue

Jerrold Levinson ­ “Aesthetic Contextualism” Artworks are essentially historically embedded entities The nature of an artwork depends, in part, on the historical context Morris Weitz ­ “The Role of Theory in Aesthetics” Notes from class: Art communicates an emotion through a means An artwork is considered good art if it is very infectious Claims that it is not possible to define art

Ex­we cannot define all games in sufficient terms. Not all games are fun or involve winning or losing

We rely on strands of similarities to categorize art Ex­Members of a class do not share common properties by they overlap in qualities

Concepts of art are flexible and changeable Ex­photography never used to be considered art

Art is resistant to definition since it values novelty and is ever­changing Arthur Danto ­ “The Artworld” Real theory: The idea that an artwork can just be a real object. It doesn’t have to be an

imitation of another artwork Suggests that the old theory is no longer adequate Artistic identification­something is an artwork if it applies the ‘is of artistic identification’ Proposal: To see something as art requires something the eye cannot descry. An Artworld Something is art if it is appropriate to have an artistic theory about or has a certain position

in the Artworld Artworld: a social structure involving people who transmit, receive, perceive art. Painteers,

sculptors, curators, purchasers, admirers, etc. George Dickie ­ “What is Art? An Institutional Analysis” Most basically, this is an expansion upon Danto’s “Artworld” theory. He specifies what the

Artworld is and what it consists of; some main points: He will try to come up with a direct definition of “art”

He claims that traditional definitions were always stuck on one particular feature ­ such as the particular relational properties of art ­ so these definitions obviously wouldn’t work because they were stuck in a certain period of history (maybe someone else can describe this better sorry lolz)

A work of art is an artifact Art can be defined if one focuses on the nonexhibited features of art Three senses of a “work of art” ­ primary/classificatory sense, secondary/derivative, and

evaluative “artifactuality is a necessary condition (call it the genus) of the primary sense of

art” 2 conditions for something to be a work of art (in the classificatory sense):

it needs to be an artifact “a set of the aspects of which has had conferred upon it the status of candidate for

appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution (the artworld)” BASICALLY: you need approval from the artworld and you get this approval when they discuss it (and certain aspects of it) and decide it’s worthy of being appreciated as art.

4 key parts of 2nd condition: 1. acting on behalf of an institution; 2.conferring of status; 3.being a candidate; 4.appreciation

The artworld is a broad social institution & an established practice where art can be conferred upon

The artworld is a bunch of systems ­ each designated to the specific type of art (literature, sculpture, etc.)

conferring on the status of objects happen within its respective domain/system Artworld consists of artists (painters, composers, writers, etc.), producers, museum

directors, museum­goers, theater­goers, reporters, critics, art historians, art theorists, art philosophers, etc.

literally anyone who sees him/herself as a member of the artworld is thereby a member

Essential core (Presentation group) = the “artist” who create the works, “presenters” present the works, and “goers” appreciate the works

No guarantee that one can tell when the status of an artwork has been conferred. Visible confirmation can be given by the hanging of works in museums

Art works only need one person to act on behalf of the artworld and confer the status of candidate for appreciation (usually only one person who confers for most works)

an object/artifact does not need a title to gain the status of being art, but a title makes it more clear that it is a work of art ­ like a badge of status

Since a member of the artworld need only confer the status of candidate for appreciation, this does not require that the art actually be appreciated, even by one person. ­ most artworks go unappreciated

Being a “work of art” does not mean that every aspect of the work is included within the candidacy for appreciation

Ted Cohen claims that if something cannot be appreciated, it cannot become art

ex: Duchamp’s Fountain in itself is not appreciable, only Duchamp’s gesture behind the artwork has significance ­ To this Dickie agrees, but says that every work of art need only some minimal potential value or worthiness

Natural objects can gain artifactuality through conferring (so without the use of tools); yet the conferring is a different act, so two separate things happen simultaneously

being an artifact and being a candidate for appreciation are separate instances A lot depends on the status of an object as an artwork on the “institutional setting” ­ so an

object is not art in a history museum, but is art in an art museum. “Art is a concept which necessarily involves human intentionality” Art inherently needs to be original in order to be considered art in the first place ­ so

when a fake is discovered to be fake, it doesn’t lose the status of “art” because it never had it in the first place

The institutional theory considers the imitation theory and the expression theory as wrong.

This is all I got from reading the article directly; feel free to add whatever else you guys find important, especially from class.

Notes from class: An object is an artwork if

a)it is an artifact b)some of its aspects have conferred upon it the status of being a candidate for appreciation by the artworld public

The object must be embedded in the artworld by some people (generally artists) By giving an object a title and hanging it on the wall, it can be given the candidacy of artwork Ex­Duchamp brought a urinal to a gallery and exhibited it, making it a candidate for the

artworld public and making it a work of art Jerrold Levinson ­ “Refining Art Historically” Isn’t this actually Defining Art Historically? no refining art historically is another essay he wrote that we’re supposed to read. but

apparently it’s very similar to defining art historically. Quote from his essay: “An artwork is a thing (item, etc.) that has been seriously intended for

regard­as­a­work­of­art – i.e., regard (treatment, etc.) – in any way preexisting artworks

are or were correctly regarded, so that an experience of some value be thereby obtained.”

An object is a work of art if and only if it is intended by its author to be regarded in one of the ways in which some existent works are or were correctly regarded.

Everything can be a work of art Not everything is a work of art ‘regard’ and ‘way of regarding’ in the definition of art should be understood broadly Noel Carroll ­ “Identifying Art” Carroll's proposal is not a definition of art, but rather a method of identifying something as

art. And the method that Carroll proposes is that of historical narration, whereby

something is identified as an artwork if a satisfying narrative can be constructed that accounts for its creation and character in relation to preexisting artworks and art traditions. But what makes such a constructed narrative satisfying? And is that the same as the narrative being true? Might such a narrative be satisfying but not actually square with how the object in question was conceived or projected by its maker? And so what is the relation between being plausibly narratively identified as art and actually being art?

Carroll claims that works of art should be accompanied by a historical narrative. Not a definition. A method of identifying something as art.

we classify as artwork by placing it into tradition art develops ­ can’t make a static definition when artwork challenged ­ provide explanation not defintion which takes the form of

historical narrative and if its reasonable ­suffices to establish candidate is an artwork historical narrative establishes status of candidate by connecting work in question

with previously acknowledged works where narrative begins ­ at historical juncture where everyone agrees we know artistic

practices are involved how do we know with alien traditions that narrative model is available? will need to look

for other than narrative reasons for being artistic trace historical lineage sometimes must resort to functional analysis ­ hist narration is not the only way to

identify art

George Dickie ­ “The New Institutional Theory of Art” “A work of art in the classificatory sense is (1) an artifact (2) a set of the aspects of which has

conferred upon it the status of candidate for appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution (the artworld)”

Acting/Conferring: the artworld is made up of artists, producers, museum directors, people who enjoy art, etc.

Candidate/Appreciation: “A number of persons are required to make up the social institution of the artworld but

only one person is required to act on behalf of the artworld to confer the status of candidate for appreciation”

all they have to do is treat the artifact as if it were a candidate for appreciation “The definition does not require that a work of art actually be appreciated, even by one

person” there are works of art that aren’t seen by anyone besides the artist

“It is important not to build into the definition...value properties such as actual appreciation; to do so would make it impossible to speak of unappreciated works of art”

Appreciation isn’t synonymous with aesthetic appreciation “In experiencing the qualities of a thing one finds them worthy or valuable” if something cannot be appreciated, can it not be art?

“is there anything which is impossible to appreciate?” plastic forks from restaurants? thumbtacks? Duchamp’s Fountain is art b/c of his “gesture that is has

significance” he appreciated it and conferred that it was a candidate for

appreciation, making it art (despite it being a urinal) An object is an artwork if a. it is an artifact b. it is intended to be presented to an artworld public (takes into account a particular

intention) Artifact­made by a human being or group of humans. Can be a result of modification of some

material, or using a natural object in a particular way (Using a stick as a weapon) Artworld: informal, social institution that involves galleries, theatres, journal, activity of

people who create/appreciate art To create a work of art, you should have an intention to present the art to an artworld public