Art takes Form

 The philosopher, Santayana, said that perceptions are like seeds in a plowed field or sparks in a keg of gunpowder. Images seen are not singular events but only the start of a reaction. A work of art continues to affect us long after we have stopped standing in front of it in a gallery or museum.

The technique which is used to produce that work of art and start this chain reaction is, according to Dewey, the result of the skill the artist possesses in managing the elements that constitute its form. The artist's techniques have evolved, not so much because of the limits of craftsmanship but to solve problems encountered in the experience of painting.

Madonna of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci

 

One of the first problems that painting faced was the move from flat mosaics into more three-dimensional depictions. There was no motivation for this change in technique other than the growth of naturalism in other areas. This evolution was followed by an attempt to depict atmospheric perspective and light in art. Another breakthrough came as artists explored the use of color. Each of these developments began when artists experimented with the techniques not as a result of a lack of skill but in a quest to explore and more accurately represent the world. These changes allowed artists to communicate better what they had to say than previous methods allowed. When the public was first exposed to these new methods, they invariably resisted the changes and condemned them. Finally, the new techniques were absorbed, normalized, and became part of tradition before the next rounds of adventures.

Dewey presents artists as natural-born experimenters, never satisfied with the status quo. A need to convey a deep-felt experience to the world motivates the artist in his mind. This need is never quite satiated, which leads to further experimentation in technique. The result can be almost mystical at first impression. The painter Delacroix declared, "before knowing what the picture represents, you are seized by its magical accord." The artist has touched upon something universal that connects with the viewer.

One of the principal tools that an artist can use is rhythm. Rhythm is elemental to human experience and something we all recognize instinctively. The rhythms of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, rest, and work, it is at our very core. Art can tap into this subconsciousness through its use of shape, color, and line to create its own rhythms.

The Third Class Carriage by Honore Daumier

Sir Joshua Reynolds, an 18th-century painter, maintained that the subject matter of art should be restricted to "some eminent instance of heroic action or heroic suffering," but a revolution was represented by Daumier with his depictions of the poor and Cezanne's still lifes of apples and oranges. It was recognized that the common man had his dramas and tragedies worthy of sharing. Portraiture was longer limited to royalty but expanded to the merchant class and then even those of less social status. Reynolds must have turned over in his grave at the unveiling of Warhol's soup cans.

The role of the artist was to assist in bringing all experience into the light. Dewey states, "(i)t belongs to the very character of the creative mind to reach out and seize any material that stirs it so that the value of that material may be pressed out and become the matter of a new experience."