Tok Essay “Art Is a Lie That Brings Us Nearer to the Truth” (Pablo Picasso)
TOK ESSAY
“Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth” (Pablo Picasso)
There are different ways for art to portray elements of truth and lies; but what Picasso was mostly referring to with his quote was that art might be a representation of the truth however lies to the human eye in terms of perception. The word art is somehow “controversial, especially in contemporary philosophy” because it relies on different AOK’s and WOK’s. The main area of art focused to support Picasso’s quote will be theatre and what philosophical role it plays in our everyday society, do we really need it, and is theatre the true or false image of reality? It is evidently challenging to make any sense out of this quote especially when the truth can only be perceived with one’s certain opinion or belief. There is a certain philosophy that lies beyond the understanding of the audience, but can be deciphered by the artist or creator. “All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theater, must singly and together create the most comprehensive art of all, a humanized society, and its masterpiece, free man” (Bernason, Bernard). The quote shows an ethical perspective on all of the areas involving the arts.
Perception is one of the key things that help theatre and other form of arts to evolve. Many playwrights and play directors such as Brecht or Moliere had a unique perception of their society, beliefs and opinion. The father of theatre known as Konstantin Stanislavski decided to explore the many elements of theatre, trying to introduce an entire new perspective and using a different code of ethics in order for theatre to evolve. His philosophy of theatre explains phenomena that associate theatre and influences of its theoretical practices. Therefore, his perception of theatre differs from the contemporary practices, making it contradictory to the general ethics and historical views of theatre, and contradicting the audience on whether theatre is relatively true
“Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth” (Pablo Picasso)
There are different ways for art to portray elements of truth and lies; but what Picasso was mostly referring to with his quote was that art might be a representation of the truth however lies to the human eye in terms of perception. The word art is somehow “controversial, especially in contemporary philosophy” because it relies on different AOK’s and WOK’s. The main area of art focused to support Picasso’s quote will be theatre and what philosophical role it plays in our everyday society, do we really need it, and is theatre the true or false image of reality? It is evidently challenging to make any sense out of this quote especially when the truth can only be perceived with one’s certain opinion or belief. There is a certain philosophy that lies beyond the understanding of the audience, but can be deciphered by the artist or creator. “All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theater, must singly and together create the most comprehensive art of all, a humanized society, and its masterpiece, free man” (Bernason, Bernard). The quote shows an ethical perspective on all of the areas involving the arts.
Perception is one of the key things that help theatre and other form of arts to evolve. Many playwrights and play directors such as Brecht or Moliere had a unique perception of their society, beliefs and opinion. The father of theatre known as Konstantin Stanislavski decided to explore the many elements of theatre, trying to introduce an entire new perspective and using a different code of ethics in order for theatre to evolve. His philosophy of theatre explains phenomena that associate theatre and influences of its theoretical practices. Therefore, his perception of theatre differs from the contemporary practices, making it contradictory to the general ethics and historical views of theatre, and contradicting the audience on whether theatre is relatively true
Bibliography: • "Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts." Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. http://www.academyanalyticarts.org/index.html • "Quotes on Absurdism." Notable Quotes • "The Theatre of the Absurd." TheatreHistory.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/theatre_of_the_absurd.html • "Theatre of the Absurd." Theatre Database • "Perception In The Arts - Term Papers - Dreamyjio." Free Term Papers, Research Papers, Essays, Book Reports | OPPapers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Perception-Arts/150819. • "Ethics and the Arts ." Emory Center for Ethics. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.