Art as a civilizing force

John Dewey describes art as a quality that permeates experience as opposed to the experience, itself. Art is where a collection of meanings, symbols, and matters are arranged into patterns that create an experience. In Dewey's eyes, this experience is or should be, social. The aesthetic experience is a manifestation of the life of a civilization more than any other thing. Were it not for the art of ancient Egypt, the monuments, temples and writings, we would know nothing of that civilization. Troy comes to us through poetry and art recovered from its ruins. Our knowledge of Minoa has been acquired through objects of art. Rites and religions of the past survive in the incense, costumes and holidays even today.

In fact, it is in the service of religion that art was most often harnessed historically. Sacraments, music, images, and ceremonies bound communities together. These elements were more than works of art to worshippers, they were a powerful physical manifestation of their beliefs. The Christian Church recognized the importance of the arts when the Second Council of Nicea ordered that the substance of religious scenes was to follow the teachings and traditions of the Church, not the imaginations of the artists.

This relationship lasted until well into the Renaissance when more secular concerns began to emerge and dictated new techniques in art. The inclusion of subjects pertaining to first, Greek mythology and then eventually, the life of common people saw new forms of art take hold.

It is maintained that we can not fully experience other times and cultures solely through their art. It is true that their world has passed away but one can never really recreate any experience because each individual has a unique reaction depending on many factors. The same person may interpret a work of art differently at another time and place. It exists in the interaction between the self and the experience at that moment.

Dewey believes that Science's revelations concerning man's role as a part of the natural world further reinforce art's place in civilization. In his view, the relationship between man and nature has always been the spark that motivates art.

To Dewey, art is the most universal means of communication because the differences of language and dialect fall away in its presence. More than mere instruction about life, art uses the imagination to bring us together. He maintains that the physical and moral worlds have become disconnected and that art is the only hope of bridging the chasm. Dewey writes "Civilization is uncivil because human beings are divided into non-communicating sects, races, nations, classes, and cliques." Oh, if Mr. Dewey could see us today!