Art History

Writing Assignment #1

        Art is different to everybody who sees. It is judged and perceived as something different by every single person. Therefore, it is truly difficult to understand what art truly is, because if every person has a different understanding of it, what understanding is the truly correct understanding. That is the beautiful thing behind art; art is unique as it is a multitude of understandings unique to each person. Art is able to break through and open each of our individual, deeper emotions, and that is what truly makes it art. With this I bring you the great theories of Sigmund Freud and that of David Hume to explain what art truly is. Sigmund Freud believes that art is created by our dreams, and we perceive it differently because we each have different dreams. David Hume says that art is perceived differently because of our cultural and society backgrounds (both of these theories will be further developed and understood in the next paragraph). I believe that art is a combination of both of these theories, because ultimately, our cultural and society norms bring about our dreams, which create our perception about a piece of art. To further understand this, I will delve deeper into the theories of both Freud and Hume, and relate them to The Object, The Fountain, The Stone Breakers, Starry Night, and Supremacist Composition: Airplane Flying 1915.

        I will begin by explaining the thesis of both Sigmund Freud and David Hume. Freud speaks about how the artist was able to express his own dreams through making art. Dreams and fantasies give us the truth behind human nature; dreams expose the human subconscious, and reveal the hidden dreams we each have beneath us. Therefore, art provides a sense of satisfaction for the dreamer. Freud continues to show us that the artist’s subconscious is much less repressed then the average individuals subconscious, therefore the artist has a much greater need and desire to express his dreams through art. According to Freud, the artist takes his own dreams and creates art, which then an individual is also able to relate to through their own experiences. David Hume believes that most people believe that it is possible to make critical judgments about art. There is a general agreement that some pieces of art are better then others; consideration forces us to acknowledge objective standards of art. Hume, believes and follows his equation, “The natural equation of taste” which states that each person’s tastes and thoughts regarding a piece of art are his own, and they cannot be changed by the views of others who may have their own perceptions regarding a piece of art. Therefore, there cannot be one standard to judge a piece of art, as each of our perceptions are entirely different. A contradiction is now brought up within Hume’s thesis. He resolves his contradiction by saying that nature has created us, and each of us, and formed our brains to coherently like pieces of art; although their may be certain disagreement between some pieces, overall, people will agree that some pieces are greater then others, and those are the truly great works. Disagreement’s basis between individuals is that each person has their own unique psychological makeup, which has been shaped by out cultural and society backgrounds. This background makes each person see each thing in a uniquely different way. In David Humes ‘Object of Taste’ he is trying to say that not everybody could look at a piece of art and say that this is considered art or that one painting is superior to another. But what is it that distinguishes art for everybody? Because everybody comes from a different cultural background and this is what shapes us to have our own individual taste. Just like everybody has different taste when eating food, so to, when it comes to art it is the same thing.