Art As An Expression

A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.

― Paul Cezanne

Hello guys, let's talk about the topic of art , like art as expression . Sometimes we can express our thoughts through art, that is one of the best ways to express our self love, emotions and everything.

The view that “art is imitation (representation)” has not only been challenged, it has been moribund in at least some of the arts since the 19th century. It was subsequently replaced by the theory that art is expression. Instead of reflecting states of the external world, art is held to reflect the inner state of the artist. This, at least, seems to be implicit in the core meaning of expression: the outer manifestation of an inner state. Art as a representation of outer existence (admittedly “seen through a temperament”) has been replaced by art as an expression of humans’ inner life.

But the terms express and expression are ambiguous and do not always denote the same thing. Like so many other terms, express is subject to the process-product ambiguity: the same word is used for a process and for the product that results from that process. nothing but its about feel the process and enjoy with your art process and its okay to be happy in the middle of the process. “The music expresses feeling” may mean that the composer expressed human feeling in writing the music or that the music when heard is expressive (in some way yet to be defined) of human feeling. Based on the first sense are theories about the creation of art. Founded on the second are theories about the content of art and the completion of its creation.

The expressive product

Although talk about expression as a process is hedged with difficulties and in any case seems irrelevant to the philosophy of art (as opposed to the psychology of art), there is another way in which talk about expression may be both true and important to the philosophy of art. Mention is made about expressive properties as belonging to works of art: for example, it is said that a certain melody expresses sadness, that there is a feeling of great calm expressed in a particular painting, or that tension is expressed in the thrusts of a tower or the development of the plot of a novel or drama.

The question arises at once of what it means to say such things. Melodies and sentences are not joyous or tense or melancholy; only persons have these qualities. The artist can have them, but how can the work of art? Clearly, to speak of a work of art as having emotions, if it is not to be utter nonsense, must be metaphorical. But what is the meaning of this metaphor? What does it mean to say that the music expresses sadness, if not in the sense of process (i.e., that the writing of it expressed the composer’s own sadness)?

The music is heard, the painting is seen; each presents itself to the senses. But there is much more involved in music than simply hearing (or even listening to) the sounds and in visual art than simply seeing (or even looking at) the colors and shapes. Even very simple combinations of sounds and shapes and colors seem to express certain qualities of life: a curved line, it is said, is graceful or sprightly; the drooping willow tree is sad, as are certain passages in music. It is virtually impossible for most persons to view art as a series of sensory stimuli only. Even when a picture contains no story, no plot, no program, the viewer “reads into the script,” attributing to works of art qualities of human moods, feelings, emotions—in short, “affects.” It would be safe to say that in all art, every percept is suffused with affect. The problem is: What is it that makes certain percepts expressive of certain affects?

The simplest answer—that “The melody is sad” means no more or less than “Hearing the melody makes me (or other listeners, or most listeners) feel sad”—is surely inadequate. (This would be a theory of evocation, not of expression.) “The music expresses whatever feelings it arouses in me when I hear it.” But often listeners do not feel emotions at all (they may imagine them), or, if they do, they feel very different emotions from the ones they believe to be expressed in the music. One may consider the rondo delirious with joy, but if one is grief-stricken on a given day one hears it without feeling joy, and if one has heard the same rondo 30 times that day one feels only boredom or fatigue, while still believing that the piece is expressive of joy. Nor is it an adequate analysis to say that “The melody expresses joy” means “I am disposed to (or inclined to) feel joy when I hear it,” for many people seem to recognize joy as a quality of the music without feeling it at all: or they may imagine it or just recognize the emotion without feeling it or believe that what they hear sounds the way joy feels—or any of a number of other accounts.

The true analysis of expressiveness in art must be more complex than this: it is not that the melody evokes emotion X, but that emotion X is somehow embodied in the music. But this leads back again to the question, how can an emotional quality be in a work of art? There is no single answer to this question that would be accepted by all philosophers of art, but most accounts begin by noting certain similarities, or analogies, between features of music and features of human feeling, so that when X (a passage of music, for example) is said to express Y (a state of feeling), there are certain similarities (for example, of structure) between X and Y. The physical accompaniments to a mood, say, of restlessness, such as rapid breathing and drumming fingers, have their musical equivalents: trills, quavers, increases in tempo, and the like. I explained some of artistic thoughts of well known artists , and with no offense , always like to share some basic artistic thoughts of well known artists to people.

Well , I guess you understood art as an expression in the form of many emotions and thoughts. I just share some basic artistic thoughts and emotions. I hope it is helpful for you. enjoy every minute of your art process but it's okay to take a break , most importantly do the art with fun , enjoying the art process with fun is kind of a unique feeling.

Disclaimer:

for disclaimer please look at navigation bar.