What Is Artistic Creativity?
Introduction
In order to answer the question – what is artistic creativity? – I find it significant to define the words art, creative and creative art. The meaning of a concept of art has changed dramatically over the past century. Traditionally the term was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romanic period, when art became to be seen as “a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science” (Gombrich 2005). Today, however, the term has become more complicated and problematic. One could argue that anything can be art. Duchamp displayed a men’s urinal in the art exhibition, and that became one of the most famous, as well as controversial pieces of art works in the world. Italian artist Piero Manzoni put his own excrement in a can – and surprisingly that was accepted as art. Tracey Emin displayed her own unmade bed in an art gallery… Yves Klein, one of the forerunners of conceptual art, once held an exhibition in Paris consisting of an entirely empty gallery. So space can be art. Some theorists argue that even crime can be art, as they are intimately linked with both being protests against social norms (Carey 2005:4-6).
In my essay I am going to argue through the example of Duchamp’s Fountain, what could be considered as artistic creativity. I am also going to look at some theories by philosophers and critics such as Immanuel Kant and Arthur C. Danto.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential figures in Western philosophy, believes in absolute and universal beauty – that some things/objects simply are beautiful, irrespective of the viewer. For Kantians, the question ‘What is a work of art?’ makes sense and is answerable. “Works of art belong to a separate category of things, recognized and attested by certain highly gifted individuals who view them in a state of pure contemplation, and their status as works of art is absolute, universal and eternal.” (Carey 2005:14). This
In order to answer the question – what is artistic creativity? – I find it significant to define the words art, creative and creative art. The meaning of a concept of art has changed dramatically over the past century. Traditionally the term was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romanic period, when art became to be seen as “a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science” (Gombrich 2005). Today, however, the term has become more complicated and problematic. One could argue that anything can be art. Duchamp displayed a men’s urinal in the art exhibition, and that became one of the most famous, as well as controversial pieces of art works in the world. Italian artist Piero Manzoni put his own excrement in a can – and surprisingly that was accepted as art. Tracey Emin displayed her own unmade bed in an art gallery… Yves Klein, one of the forerunners of conceptual art, once held an exhibition in Paris consisting of an entirely empty gallery. So space can be art. Some theorists argue that even crime can be art, as they are intimately linked with both being protests against social norms (Carey 2005:4-6).
In my essay I am going to argue through the example of Duchamp’s Fountain, what could be considered as artistic creativity. I am also going to look at some theories by philosophers and critics such as Immanuel Kant and Arthur C. Danto.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential figures in Western philosophy, believes in absolute and universal beauty – that some things/objects simply are beautiful, irrespective of the viewer. For Kantians, the question ‘What is a work of art?’ makes sense and is answerable. “Works of art belong to a separate category of things, recognized and attested by certain highly gifted individuals who view them in a state of pure contemplation, and their status as works of art is absolute, universal and eternal.” (Carey 2005:14). This
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