ku # 488 ~ a fresh intimation of Form
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 08:53AM 
Autumn scene • click to embiggenOnce again from Robert Adams; "If the goal of art is Beauty and if we assume the the goal is sometimes reached, even if always imperfectly, how do we judge art?"
IMO, Adams is talking about Art, not art - that is, Fine Art (which engages the mind), not decorative art (which dis-engages the mind). He goes on to state -
"Basically, I think (we judge art) by whether it reveals to us important Form that we ourselves have experienced but to which we have not paid adequate attention. Successful art rediscovers Beauty for us."
Once again, I'm with Adams on this. I am drawn to photography that is in some sense 'a new way of seeing'. I don't mean a new 'technique' (although that's OK). What I mean is a new way of looking at something I have already seen but 'to which I have not paid adequate attention'. Pictures that cause me to 'think again', so to speak.
Adams says something similar - "One standard then, for the evaluation of art is the degree to which it gives us a fresh intimation of Form ... it must in some significant respect be unlike what has preceded it ... if the dead end of romantic vision is incoherence, the failure of classicism, which is the outlook I am defending, is the cliche, the ten thousandth camera-club imitation of a picture by Ansel Adams." (FYI - classicism; Aesthetic attitudes and principles manifested in art ... characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restraint.)
As most here already know, I'm totally with Adams on this one - the last thing the world needs is another 'camera-club imitation of a picture by Ansel Adams'.
Reader Comments (1)
I really don't know much about art but I like the way the light hits the tree and draws me into the center of the picture.