TOK: Art as an AOK

So... Is that an art or just a beauty?

Another Art

• L.H.O.O.Q by Du Champs
• Pun

• Readymades art work

• Attack on the iconic Mona Lisa and traditional art, thus promoting the Dadaism

Definition of Beauty

Subjective (Personal) View

Objective (Shared) View

• Objective approach: beauty is in the object itself and judgments about it may be objectively valid (Shared)

• Subjective approach: beauty lies in the beholder’s eyes – it is just what pleases the observer (Personal)

• Some people: YES!
• Creative
• Expresses the artist's intention
• Unique

• Other people: THAT'S NO NO!
• Irreverence to art

TOK: Art as an AOK

Jeong-Won Tak

Applying the Definition

• Can they be seen as expression of creative skill?

• Is it fair to call some works as "art"?
• Or are they just some pieces of "junk"?

TOK ART Case Study

Jackson Pollock's Art

Another "Art" Piece...

This is also called an "art" piece

Name: Fountain (1917)

Artist: Marcel Duchamp

What is this..?:

• A porcelain urinal signed "R.Mutt" and titled Fountain
• First displayed in Alfred Stieglitz's studio
• Associated with Dadaism

<Convergence - Random Baby>

<Convergence - Jackson Pollock>

Different Kinds of Art

• Art: very subjective
• Different opinions on "art"

Other Kinds of Art

Painting

Sculpture

Definition of Art?

• the expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture.

• the product of such a process; paintings, drawings, and sculpture collectively.

• the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, and drama.

• subjects of study primarily concerned with human culture (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects)

Intellectual

Way of Knowing

"The artist is a not great creator—Duchamp went shopping at a plumbing store. The artwork is not a special object—it was mass-produced in a factory. The experience of art is not exciting and ennobling—at best it is puzzling and mostly leaves one with a sense of distaste. But over and above that, Duchamp did not select just any ready-made object to display. In selecting the urinal, his message was clear: Art is something you piss on." - philosopher Stephen Hicks

• Does this art provoke people's "emotions"?

• Are emotions important to your understanding of the subject?
• Rationalization: "Fountain" is just a toilet and its an insult to art
• Fallacious Reasoning & Generalization

• Intellectual (involving contemplation)

Area of Knowing

Ethics

Aristotle: art that shows terrible things is valuable. It allows catharsis (we release

our emotions) and it lets us experience indirectly (vicariously) a range of situations

Plato: art should be ethical. Unethical art that is disgusting or shows bad moral behavior should be banned.

Relativism VS Universalism

Ethical relativism: no kind of action that is

always, everywhere and for everyone right or wrong

• People's beliefs, attitudes, tastes, etc. are significantly affected by their culture - and people in different cultures have very different beliefs, attitudes, tastes, etc.

• Ethical universalism: some (at least one) kind of action that is always, everywhere and for everyone right or wrong.

Personal Connection

• Reason for Choosing: first abstract artwork I encountered in middle school

• Why Do I Like It?:
• Very unique & unconventional
• Not beautiful
• Has intellectual message