Different Definitions of Art and Photography
To test the validity of the statement ‘All the arts are based on the presence of man, only photography derives an advantage from his absence.’ (Bazin 1967: 13), one has to first define what is meant by art. This commentary is going to examine this statement using three different definitions of art, Bazin’s, Tolstoy’s and Arnheim’s definitions.
Andre Bazin believed realism lies at the heart of art, and that art is the process of reproducing reality. He believed that an artefact should ‘helps us to remember the subject and to preserve him from a second spiritual death’ (Bazin 1967: 10). He saw art as a way of immortalising mortal things; he compares painting and sculptures to the ancient practice of mummifying in Egypt, ‘to keep up appearances in the face of the reality of death by preserving flesh and bone’ (Bazin 1967: 9). I agree with this point that Bazin made, this power that artefacts posses, making long lasting legacies, can be seen all around us, take the great pyramid of Giza, built sometime before 2000 BC, was symbol of Pharaoh Khufu’s power and greatness, and although Khufu and the society of ancient Egypt, as a whole, are long gone, their presence is still felt today through the pyramid. However it should be noted that many artefacts would lose their meaning if they are not accompanied with some kind of explanation, such as the Stonehenge, although a brilliant piece of art, no one knows what it stands for. Therefore we can conclude that one cannot simply immortalise himself, so to speak, by creating a piece of art.
Bazin explains that the only motive of plastic arts, at its creation, was to recreate reality, however they failed to do so, and only produced an illusion, ‘photography and the cinema on the other hand are discoveries that satisfy, once and for all and in its very essence, our obsession with realism’ (Bazin 1967: 12), and therefore with the invention of this superior form of replication, the plastic arts should cease to exist. Although
Andre Bazin believed realism lies at the heart of art, and that art is the process of reproducing reality. He believed that an artefact should ‘helps us to remember the subject and to preserve him from a second spiritual death’ (Bazin 1967: 10). He saw art as a way of immortalising mortal things; he compares painting and sculptures to the ancient practice of mummifying in Egypt, ‘to keep up appearances in the face of the reality of death by preserving flesh and bone’ (Bazin 1967: 9). I agree with this point that Bazin made, this power that artefacts posses, making long lasting legacies, can be seen all around us, take the great pyramid of Giza, built sometime before 2000 BC, was symbol of Pharaoh Khufu’s power and greatness, and although Khufu and the society of ancient Egypt, as a whole, are long gone, their presence is still felt today through the pyramid. However it should be noted that many artefacts would lose their meaning if they are not accompanied with some kind of explanation, such as the Stonehenge, although a brilliant piece of art, no one knows what it stands for. Therefore we can conclude that one cannot simply immortalise himself, so to speak, by creating a piece of art.
Bazin explains that the only motive of plastic arts, at its creation, was to recreate reality, however they failed to do so, and only produced an illusion, ‘photography and the cinema on the other hand are discoveries that satisfy, once and for all and in its very essence, our obsession with realism’ (Bazin 1967: 12), and therefore with the invention of this superior form of replication, the plastic arts should cease to exist. Although
Bibliography: * Rudolf Arnheim, Fim as Art: 50th Anniversary Printing, 2006 * Leo Tolstoy, The Diaries of Leo Tolstoy, 2009 * Bain, Andre (1967) ‘The Ontology of the Photographic Image’ What is Cinema?, vol.1. Berkley: University of California press, 9 – 16. * A.R. Duckworth, Influential Theorists: Andre Bazin – The Ontology Of The Photographic Image, The motley view, 2008 http://ardfilmjournal.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/influential-theorists-andre-bazin-%E2%80%93-the-ontology-of-the-photographic-image/ * Daily Mirror statement in full, CNN, 2004 http://web.archive.org/web/20041125053916/www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/13/iraq.abuse.statement/index.html * Clayton, Peter A. (1994). Chronicle of the Pharaohs. Thames & Hudson.