Art and Aesthetics

As time and centuries pass simultaneously art evolves too. During the Greek – Roman period in history art was a powerful medium and was used as a research instrument for studying the human body. The Greeks loved perfection, religion, and their government. These values were transferred to the Romans who adapted the Greek culture together with their swag. Later on by doing so, the mixture of both cultures came to be known as the “classical civilization” (The Greek Spirit pg. 99). The Greco-Roman style influenced many people specifically philosophers, pushed them to create theories that would explain, measure and declare what was art. Amongst these men we encounter the famous philosopher Plato and his ideal aesthetic when developing art. Plato theorized on the skill and knowledge behind making a piece, the advantages and disadvantages of mimiquing art, and the whereabouts of artistic inspiration. When looking at Plato’s theories in comparison to the modern person, the way in which artist create art today, the theories no longer apply.
Art is a generated feeling, idea, experience, or concept that is given a form by the artist. That’s the basic idea of how art is created, however Plato believes art’s process to be more specific, “Art conceived generally as techne, presupposes a knowing and a making: Knowing the end to be aimed at and the best means for achieving the end” (Philosophies of Art and Beauty pg. 1). Here Plato says that all works of art are created with skill and knowledge (techne), meaning the artist must be educated in the type of medium he is using. It also says that because all art has techne the artist should be able to follow a specific size, length and form according to Plato in order to achieve the ideal end. Now looking at a modern example of art in this case graffiti we see that the concept of maintaining a form is still there however this type of art does not necessarily follow a specific format like Plato believed. Graffiti captures meaning and