What is Art ?
Expressing what art is is very difficult if you are closely related to art or are involved in art-related processes. Imagine a closet filled with ping pong balls. When you are asked what is art, the doors of that cabinet open and all the balls come over you and you will be surprised which one to keep. Actually, this question is not as old as human history. It has a history dating back only 2500 years. It is not the problem of those who paint on cave walls, draw shapes on earthen pots, build pyramids in Egypt, paint Greek vases, or sculpt an athlete throwing a discus. In fact, it is not the problem of Leonardo da Vinci or Rembrandt as a painter. On the other hand, it is not and should not be a problem for Duchamp, those who enter the process of creating with a post-modern approach, or those who paint or sculpt in their workshop.
The question of what is art has first been the main problem of philosophers. Especially his ideas about the creation of the universe formed the basis for finding the answer to the question of art. While defining art, Plato tried to explain it as a reflection of the beings in the universe. Aristotle, on the other hand, found it appropriate to explain art as imitation. In later periods, other philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and art historians tried to define art. However, the main question is; that is, the question of what is art has been ignored. In fact, what should be is the necessity of expressing what is art before the definition. So the following question should be asked. Is painting art? Is sculpture art? Is ceramic art? Of course not. Painting is not art. Because painting is an object. Sculpture is not art. Because sculpture is an object. The word ceramic, on the other hand, does not even describe an object. The objects we refer to as ceramics are either a vessel, a vase or a mug. Therefore, those objects are not called ceramics. So what is ceramic? Here is the name given to all of the techniques we use to make the above-mentioned objects. All of the techniques that start with preparing the necessary clay to make that object, from shaping to firing, from there to painting and glazing, are called ceramics.
Therefore, art is neither the name of an object nor the name of a technique. Art is a phenomenon. As such, the namings we make based on the object, namely the art of painting, the art of sculpture, the art of ceramics, the art of photography, etc., are incorrect expressions. These expose art, which is a phenomenon, to the danger of objectification. Many philosophers and art historians have different expressions on this subject. Some of them have attempted to classify art based on visual, some based on sensory. These are limited approaches. There is also the expression (finearts) Fine Arts, which includes the idea of "ugly arts". There are schools that are incorrectly named as “Fine Arts” both at home and abroad.
Is it important to define art? both yes and no. Defining art is important for society, but not for the person involved in the artistic creation process. Society needs to recognize what is expressed by the phenomenon of art. Because the society feels obliged to benefit from the phenomenon of art while creating certain basic values. In this way, he will determine his aesthetic values and include the value in his life. Thus, he will be able to capture the quality of life.
Art is creating the higher self of man in another dimension after a dynamic process. The higher self of man is the dimension of awareness, unlike the self-concepts stated by Nietzsche and Freud. This realization takes place when it comes into existence. It is doubtful that every human being can experience this realization. The dynamic process experienced has a feature other than motion. To understand the dynamic process, imagine a tray containing dozens of marbles. Make the balls move by moving this tray. From that moment on, you cannot control the balls hitting each other and with which points they come into contact with each other. In fact, it is very difficult to predict the other balls that the balls that come into contact with each other will come into contact with after this contact. The dynamic process has such a vital feature.
The person who enters the process of creating art, sometimes performs many activities that he cannot control, other than what he has designed. After such activities, the higher self exists in another dimension. These other dimensions are surface, volume, sound, word and mime. In other words, the person who enters the creative process of art can create his higher self on the surface, create it with volume, create it with sound, create it with words, or create it with a sign, in line with his own preferences. If he chose to exist on the surface, a painting or photograph emerges at the end of this process. If it is created with volume, either a sculpture or an architectural structure emerges. A musical work if it comes into existence with sound, a literary work if it comes into existence with words, and a character definition related to acting emerges if it comes into existence with a sign.
After all, what we call art is a life process. Evidence of this experience appears in the work of art. The characteristics of the elements that make up the resulting work and the relations of the elements with each other express that experience.
The painting or the elements that make up the photograph, basically the stains and forms, the expression of the lived process belonging to the process lived in order to bring the higher self into existence on the surface, the composition that creates the dynamic of their coming together reveals the expression of all this lived experience. This situation is revealed as texture and forms in sculpture, with the relationship of sound (note) in musical work, with the expression of words in literary work, and with character expressions in mime.
Thus, art; art on the surface, art with volume, art with sound, art with words and art with mime become intelligible with five basic distinctions.
However, the fact that the phenomenon of art is expressed only on the basis of the experience of the person who enters the process of creating art brings with it a great deficiency. Because the work that emerges at the end of the creation process is included in his life by the viewer.
The features of the elements of the work of art also undertake triggering tasks in the vital dimension of the viewer. For example, while the purple color used in a painting appears as an expression of the trauma experienced by the person entering the process of creating it, it may have a feature that triggers a different vital dimension for the viewer.
As a result, art is the expression of any life that is valid only for human existence. However, although it reveals a simple dimension in terms of vital expression, it takes its place in the expression of the upper language in terms of perception. However, it is not a taboo.
