What is art: definition. The meaning of the word "art"

From the earliest times art shaped humanity, its worldview and value system. The key role in this case has always been played by a certain act of creation that allowed a representative of the human race to penetrate beyond the ordinary life, to add to reality an additional layer woven from his own world-view, talent and imagination.

The problem of awareness of art

Absolutely every person on the planet Earth is familiar with the term "art", actively uses it in everyday life, but not everyone is wondering about what is really art. The concept itself is already multifaceted and controversial. An even greater number of arguments and points of view produce the question "what can be called art". First of all, this concerns, of course, modernity, because no one doubts that the paintings of Peter Bruegel or Vincent Van Gogh can be called masterpieces.

First of all, we will understand that the meaning of the word art is concealed within itself.

The essence of the term itself

There are a lot of points of view on this, but by today, mankind has managed to form a common basic understanding of this term. Most often, art means a set of cultural, spiritual, aesthetic knowledge of a person embodied in art objects. In this case, we are not talking about any specific form of creativity, but about creation in general.

In the most general sense, art is an attempt by man to comprehend the world through the act of creation. Of course, with time such attempts become more and more, they accumulate and an attentive inquisitive mind gets the opportunity to trace a certain pattern in existing aesthetic objects. Thus, over time, the art of this or that era appears, reflecting a person's consciousness in a certain time period.

In fact, to the question of what art is, a definition can be given indefinitely, since in this case a huge role is played by the human factor, the own understanding of the question by each individual. In some cases, this term is understood as realities that are completely unrelated to the objects of aesthetics. Surgeons, programmers, postmen, teachers and an endless list of people of other specialties are quite capable of turning their work into art, although to the aesthetics this relationship has absolutely nothing.

Types of Arts

It is possible to speak about the manifestations of art in the life of mankind indefinitely, but centuries-old traditions make it possible to distinguish several basic species. The art of expression appears to mankind in the form of a literary process. The experience of millennia is reflected in it in metaphors, epithets, hidden and obvious meanings, over which the reader ponder over and over again, picking up this or that book.

Folk art from the earliest times accompanies a person in his life, mastering reality. Initially presented as syncretic rites and actions, and then passed into a purely aesthetic form, it is still developing, improving and expanding its borders. Lyrical songs, frescoes, elegant embroideries, chastushki and even all the famous jokes about Vovochka are all a manifestation of the creativity of the people themselves, reflecting his consciousness and worldview.

In colors and shades the human art transmits the fine arts. This type of creativity is special in all senses. Each stroke, every curve of one form or another is aimed at transferring the image. A holistic, complete object, embodied in the smallest detail.

Of course, we must not forget about music - the most synesthetic kind of art from all existing. From time immemorial she accompanied a man, serving first for introduction into a kind of trance, and then moving to the realm of aesthetics.

Views on the classification of arts

In addition to the eternal question "what is art", the definition of the concept itself provides for a number of aspects of considering this component of the existence of mankind. In particular, the division of it into species, an attempt at some classification.

Reflection of reality

The origins of this problem go to Aristotle himself, who considered art an imitation of nature. It is from his theory that the theory of mimesis as the main component occurred.

In his classification, Aristotle relied directly on the method of imitation. Literature as the art of the word was determined precisely by the author of "Poetics".

Genuine status

Lessing also built his classification on a different basis. The philosopher divided art into temporal and spatial. The first were literature and music, and the second - painting, sculpture. Of course, in this case it is rather difficult to draw a sharp dividing line, since the content plan and the expression plan for a given work can differ drastically.

Interaction with consciousness

The epoch of Romanticism mankind is obliged by the division into the fine and expressive arts. The meaning of the word "art" was understood very peculiarly at that time. To the fine arts could include both literature and painting, not to mention sculpture and theater. However, any kind: musical art, sculpture or architecture - a priori affects the person, and therefore is expressive. In particular, this applies, of course, to music.

Nationality, culture, own aesthetics

What is art, the definition of which is still not fully understood, if not a reflection of the worldview of a certain category of people within a specific time? If you think about it, it is the general being consciousness that determines the basic principles of creation. Folk art gives impetus to the author's, growing into something more. These features are formed depending on various aspects: the political, historical situation in the territory of a particular country, the religious picture of the world of its population, interaction with other cultures.

Fine art, like any other, is determined by several factors at once. First of all, this awareness of the concept of beauty of a specific nationality. It is quite obvious that the aesthetic standards of Asia are completely incompatible with the ideals of the Slavs or Native Americans. The second component is the global context. In most cases, art nevertheless focuses on certain currents in world culture, borrows from it specific elements and basic principles, which subsequently makes it possible to determine the outlook of mankind at one or another stage of its development.

Art and responsibility

Any aesthetic object is first and foremost an act of creation. In different epochs the attitude to this process was completely different. In the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the poet, for example, was considered a kind of mediator, connected between heaven and reality, a kind of messiah. Later, with the advent of an individual-author's era, a poet, musician or artist began to be regarded as creators. Entire worlds emerged from the pen of the masters, new realities were created with the help of paints, new feelings were born with the sound of music.

What is art ( its definition ), if not responsibility in this case? If you do not realize yourself as a creator? Knowingly the meaning of the word "art" is etymologically and morphologically similar to the word "temptation". Apocryphal literature often refers to the plot of the contest between God and the devil in creation, when God created a woman, and his opponent - a snake. Even then, creation implied responsibility for itself, because there is no power more comprehensive than musical art, and the rostrum is more powerful than literature. Humanity itself is determined by creation, exists in it, develops and is perfected.