"Aristotle and Plato- all art has a moral nature . Affect the way in which we see and relate to the world. Direct our sympathies and emotions. Constitutive element of our broader morality. Music is most directly moral, un-mediated correlation with our emotions"
Here is the first parallel, which is the moral nature that I am interested in propounding for art: as a means to bridge towards the truth and the good.
"Plato- art as representational art forms (painting and poetry) rejected because of their metaphysical poverty. The objects of the world are already mere imitations of the ideal and universal forms of such objects, theses art forms are then imitations of imitations."
The second parallel rests in this idea that art should be a means to bridge and not merely the artist's attempt at reproduction and representation. Stark and confrontational art that breaks the consumer out of his/her comfort zone and to make the attempt to grasp the bridging process for his/her own.
"The aesthetic value: of a thing, person or event has in virtue of its distinctly aesthetic qualities. An aesthetic experience is characterized by 3 features: unity, complexity and intensity. When we engage in aesthetic contemplation, we adopt a unique mental stance with a certain kind of detachment. When we appreciate something aesthetically, we do not look at its practical function. This attitude is marked by a detached and open awareness. This aesthetic experience can be: contemplative or reflective, active or passive."
This is an aspect that I had not explored into. So now, I seek to integrate the idea of Schelleken's "Aesthetic Experience" with my understanding of Art as means of Bridging towards the Truth.
What follows is a synthesis: I am interested in the active (consumer to take ownership of the process of bridging) contemplative (thinking beyond oneself) and reflective (thinking of oneself) effect of art on the consumer when the consumer has an aesthetic experience )when the real and imagined senses of the consumer are engaged) from interaction with the work of art.
Before we move on, I wish to spend more time on discussing the contemplative and reflective aspects. Contemplative effects of Art can take the form of broadening our moral knowledge into unknown areas (perspectivism) and to be beside ourself and our cultural mores to adopt controversial positions (to satisfy curiosities and purge taboos). Contemplation should and often flows into reflection where the consumer reassesses and reaffirms his/her moral thought. When contemplation flows into reflection, the consumer has taken a positive step towards bridging the truth.
Good Art is aesthetically appealing and creates a positive aesthetic experience. A positive aesthetic experience is when good art is able to engage and enthrall the consumer to take up the process of owning his/her own bridging towards the good/truth.
What then makes Good Art aesthetic appealing? Good Art is when the tools of its art-form are made use of in a balanced way to to engage real and imagined senses in a "Pure" manner.
Aesthetic appeal then translates into the ability of the engaged consumer to see the truth and want to channel his/her energies towards ownership of the process of bridging towards the truth.
Now it is important at this point to take note that I do not wish to reduce art to a mere epistemological tool. In fact, I see entertainment and pleasure as a prerequisite of Good art. In order to explain this assertion, I will compare representational art and Good art and its pleasurable and entertaining effect on its consumers.
With representational art, pleasure derives only from appreciation of it as a good replica of its subject and the skill of the artist is often appreciated. The pleasure is of a very here-and-now and immediate form.
Whereas with Good art, the consumer is engaged and has take-aways from the interaction. There is a deeper and prolonged resonance. There is both the pleasures described above and an ingrained pleasure via the active process of contemplation flowing into reflection where the consumer has made the aesthetic experience a part of his/herself.
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