Art Is Not A Craft Or Artifact?

Collingwood begins by asking the question, if art is something real but is not a craft or artifact, what is it? It is not made by changing or transforming raw materials or by following a plan, so what do we call the process?
He proceeds to answer these questions by taking them one by one, beginning with the artist. He then asks what we call the act that the artist performs if we do not see it as a technical skill. Collingwood asserts that he does not want the audience to misunderstand the answers he is looking for; he is not looking for theories, but simply for well known facts. He wants only facts, worded simply in the way that habitual art thinkers express themselves.
In an effort to make his intent clearer, he explains the incorrect way
in which to answer the question. Many people have tried to answer the question by explaining that art cannot be produced by accident therefore something must be in control. It cannot be the artist’s skill, reason, will, or consciousness that is in control. If the controlling force is outside the artist, we may call it inspiration, or if it comes from inside the artist, it must be mental and subconscious.
Collingwood continues that there are many theories that have been formed on the basis of this answer. The first theory states that artists are controlled by a higher being using the artist as a vessel. Collingwood calls the theory old fashioned, but says it should still be heard. The second theory is that an artist is controlled by a deep seeded part of the mind that is not conscious or voluntary.
The theories listed are not meant to be examined or critiqued, but just viewed as examples of theories. Whether a theory is good or bad is not of any importance if a question can’t be answered with theories. People who propose to use theory to explain how art comes to be are overlooking the idea of creation and how familiar it is.
Moving past the religious meaning of creation, creating something means to generate it or make it in a non-technical manner. Creation can, in fact, be compared to the word procreation which is voluntary but requires no special skill and does not require a preconceived plan or end. With the established meaning of creation, it should be quite obvious that when an artist makes a piece of work that what they are doing is creating.
With the other examples of creation given by Collingwood, the object is question is real, while in art the object created need not necessarily be real.
The piece of art may only have ever existed in the artist’s mind up until the point of creation. It is with the example of an engineer creating a bridge with no plans that he explains that until the bridge is built, we would consider the bridge to be imaginary, but once it is built, it is considered real. He then states that the same rules would apply to a musician holding a tune in his head and not making it public. It is only after we have heard the tune played or sung that we consider it a real tune.
When considering the making of an artifact, it is a real artifact to which we are referring. The two steps to making an artifact are creating a plan and bringing that plan to fruition with certain matter or fabricating the artifact, such as the engineer’s bridge. When an artist creates a work of art, such as a song, he may hum or play the tune on an instrument or write the notes down on paper. While these things are pieces of the work of designing the song, the song is actually made in the head of the artist. Since it is taking place only in the head of the artist, it is an example of an imaginative
creation.
When the imaginary object, such as the song, is written or drawn out and made into plans, it is no longer an imaginative creation. The artist’s plan is not the song, but simply instructions that will enable others to make their own song.
The difference between drawing plans for a bridge and writing out a song is not the same thing. By following the plans for a bridge, the bridge can be fabricated and built. Unlike the bridge, the tune is not in the plans, but only musical notations.
Collingwood continues by differentiating “imagination” from “make-believe”. Make-believe can never become real. Make-believe has nothing to do with real art. The act of imagining is an act performed. Make-believe can be performed without reflection. Make-believe is performed with the motive of desire for something to be the truth when one is dissatisfied with reality. Imagination does not share such motive. It is indifferent to whether something is real or not or whether desire is present or not.
While art and imagination are well connected, art and amusement are not. While many attempts have been made to connect the two, as with popular writing or film, the connection with proper art cannot be made.
Creating imaginary activity or experience and expressing our emotions, we create art. We do not yet fully understand the meaning of this because even broken down piece by piece, it still causes misunderstanding. This is the conclusion that is reached when one goes by strictly the facts that people know to be true.