Carroll—A contemporary introduction—Chapter 3—Part 2

Noël Carroll
Philosophy of Art: A contemporary introduction
(1999)

 

[SK's snark]

 

---

[137]

Part II
What is artistic form?

 

Excellent question. Perhaps this should be Part I?

 

 

Different views of artistic form

Form is an important concept for talking about art. ... However, ... it cannot serve as the

defining feature

of all art ... Formalists and neoformalists ... overplay their hand. ... But much art

possesses form

and that, in large measure, is often why we appreciate it. ...

So, what is artistic form?

Perhaps the most common way of thinking of artistic form is to conceive of it as

one half of a distinction—

the distinction between

form
and
content.

The neoformalist tries to clarify this contrast by turning it into the distinction between

meaning
and
mode of presentation.

However, ... if there are artworks without meanings, ... then this way of conceptualizing form entails that such artworks lack form altogether.

But ... Often "meaningless" artworks—such as works of pure music—are what we typically take to be the greatest exemplars of artistic form. ...

This suggests that one might look for a broader way of crafting the contrast between form and content.

One way

of doing this is to say that

content is
whatever makes up the artwork,

and

form is
the way that
whatever makes up the artwork
is organized.

Content is the
matter;

form is the
manner.

Form operates on whatever comprises the content. Again, this makes our conception of

the form

of an artwork

dependent on

our conception of

the content

of the artwork. That is, one cannot determine

the manner of its organization,

until one knows

what is being organized.

A problem arises here almost immediately. ...

[138]

the notion of content, as just stated, is

excessively ambiguous,

and this ambiguity is likely to infect whatever we say about artistic form ...

...   Imagine a historical painting of St. Francis and a donkey. What

makes up

this artwork? In one sense, ... oil paint. At another level ... lines, colors and closed shapes. ... representational figures that refer to certain subjects or referents, ... which, in turn, may also be expressive of the human quality of kindness. Furthermore, the painting may take a point of view ... It may ... suggest a thesis about St. Francis: ... the painting may even advance a more general theme: ...

...   this list could be even longer if our descriptions of these dimensions were more fine-grained.

 

In other words, criticism can never be fully 'objective' so long as fine-ness of grain is left to the critic themselves to decide upon. The "grain" can always be tailored to critical needs, turning up as much or as little basis for commentary as is needed/desired.

 

Carroll—A contemporary introduction—Chapter 3—Part 1

Noël Carroll
Philosophy of Art: A contemporary introduction
(1999)

 

[SK's comments]

 

---

[108]

3
Art and form

Part I
Art as form

Formalism

Like the expression theory of art, formalism arose as a reaction to representational theories of art. And also like the expression theory, it was prompted by striking shifts in artistic practice. ... [i.e.] modern art or modernism. ... Cubism and Minimalism ... abstraction. ...

Undoubtedly, one

important cause

of the evolution of this type of modern art was

the advent of photography.

 

Important as in:
  doing much of the causing?

Or, as in:
  one cause among others,
  but "important" in some other way(s)?

 

Lasch—Penetralia

Christopher Lasch
Women and the Common Life: Love, Marriage, and Feminism
(1997)

5. "The Sexual Division of Labor, the Decline of Civic Culture, and the Rise of the Suburbs"
(pp. 93-120)

[99] Comparing the new [Boston Public Library] building in Copley Square to European libraries, [Henry] James was struck by its accessibility, its rejection of any suggestion of the mystery or sacred space—"penetralia"—normally associated with a place of learning. A "library without penetralia" struck James as slightly incongruous, a "temple without altars." "The British Museum, the Louvre, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Treasure of South Kensington, are assuredly . . . at the disposal of the people; but it is to be observed, I think, that the people walk there more or less under the shadow of the right waited for and conceded." The more democratic conception of culture embodied in the Boston Public Library, experienced by James as a "reservation" to his pleasure in the new building, was exactly what commended the place to a young woman from the slums [Mary Antin].

The notion of penetralia, or at least the word itself, seems potentially useful in the ongoing culture war over formality in art and music. No doubt the populist impulse is to do away with it, as here...but note that the substance and orientation of the institution has, in the above anecdote, been scrupulously maintained; rather, it is the ornamental touches (literal ornaments in some cases) which have been carefully reformulated or eliminated while what might be called the content remains heavy-duty and unapologetically formal(istic).

Notwithstanding the above, the fact remains that no penetralia can make you feel inferior without your permission. Hence, for the lack of pretense to commend a place (or not) is really no improvement but merely indicates a caucusing with the antielite side of the aisle and the continuation of the culture war du jour. It is but a stone's throw from here to full-on reverse snobbery. Amenities assuredly at the disposal of the people are as much as we're allowed to demand of our society, perhaps of life in general. Meeting our needs in substance is a right, and in style a luxury; morally, that is, but certainly pragmatically too, because style is divergent and substance convergent.