Most can agree with the statement that there are two different aspects to defining art and beauty. There is an emotional aspect, which has more to do with inner beauty and personal interpretation of art, and a objective aspect, which has to do with outer beauty and the tactical interpretation of art. The subjective aspects are what I find most interesting, because of the inherent uniqueness of personal interpretation. These interpretations are backed by one thing- truth. Not truth in the universal definition, truth from a personal perspective. A truth that may only hold true to one person. The universality of the truth is irrelevant. The most important thing is that this truth of perspective, this personal truth, the truth of perspective, is not shallow. The most important thing is that it matters.
Of course, each culture will have their respective generalities about true beauty and good art. In art, these generalities usually have characteristics such as relevance, depth, emotional content, and use of technique. While these are certainly appropriate characteristics to judge a piece by, they cannot capture the full affect that the art has on it's viewers. The true sign of a good piece of art is that it can be interpreted a million different ways by a million different people, that it can appeal to the emotions of it's viewers in such a profound way that they cannot get enough of it. The true sign of a good piece of art is that it can be stared at and contemplated for hours on end without ever becoming boring. The reason that this phenomenon, which is the emotionally charged reaction to a combination of colors and shapes, has it's basis in personal truth. The reason that we can be so smitten by a piece of art that reminds us of our home or provokes us to dream about different lands, or experiences, or foods, or even tastes is because we each hold in our memories experiences that have shaped how we interpret what we see. These are our truths. Just as a fine piece of art can enrapture our imaginations, a beautiful woman or man can captivate our thoughts.
Although beauty, when pertaining to humans, is under considerably more stress by societal norms than art, there is still much discrepancy between personal opinion of beauty. Some consider inner beauty more powerful than outer. Others become so obsessed with outer beauty that they become blind to personality and character. Personal truth does not discriminate between inner and outer, because, after all, it is the viewer whom holds the truth, and who can rightly say which is more valuable because value is a deeply personal subject. I will be the first to admit that I have been utterly captivated by beautiful women and had to use every ounce of my strength in order to be polite and refrain from staring and drooling (I exaggerate). There is something about a smile, the twinkle in an eye, the slope of a neck, and long, silky hair that gets me, and I'm sure, gets everyone else. No matter how civilized and sensible humanity becomes, outer beauty will always be important. The real variation and uncertainty takes place in the truth of inner beauty. People often preach the importance of inner beauty, swearing that they would rather marry the homely and innocent over the comely and corrupt, and I often wonder to what extent is this true. Each person has a varying truth on what they believe characterizes inner beauty based on their upbringing and hierarchy of moral importance. Some believe that charity is beautiful or that honesty is the most beautiful quality a human could possess. Regardless of specifics, the majority of humanity agrees that true inner beauty is based on positive moral character. They believe that most beautiful things on this Earth are characteristic of a pure soul.
These memories and experiences and the things we have learned along our life's journey, as short as ours have been so far, have evolved into things that we consider as true. When things happen to us, or we experience them, we begin to form opinions, and until these opinions get changed, either by argument, new experiences, or education, they are personally true. In other words, we believe them to be true. We use these personal truths to realize true beauty, true emotion, and truly good art.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteYou did an excellent job translating the feelings of many of us reguarding the differences between inner and outer beauty into words. It is really naive to think that outer beauty plays no role in how we view something or someone. There is an honesty in your post that is refreshing as this is a topic that effects all of us on a regular basis. We talk about the line between the importance of inner and outer beauty as if there is a clear choice in importance. However you make the point of it being the individual's concept of truth that decides how they feel.
You talk about individule's truth and it's connection with the reaction to a piece of art. In this way the value of an art piece would be related to the viewer'a emotional connection. Do you believe than that the viewer defines a piece of art rather than the creator? This is something that seems to hold true among art museums and collectors.
Now on a slightly more controversial topic, does society and more specifically the males define the beauty of a women because they are essentially the viewer? It seems to be an aspect of our society to judge art and beauty by our truths influenced by our culture and societal pressures. And in this way would you argue that in order to change beauty standards we must change individual truths?
Overall your post is very well articulated and written. You make several very thought provoking points as you adress several intricate aspects in the connections between art, beauty, and truth. Thank you.