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Single Idea 23903

[filed under theme 21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 1. Artistic Intentions ]

Full Idea

It is impossible to admire a work of art without thinking oneself, in a way, its creator and without, in a sense, becoming so.

Gist of Idea

When we admire a work, we see ourselves as its creator

Source

Simone Weil (Letters [1940], 1940-03c)

Book Ref

Weil,Simone: 'Seventy Letters' [Wipf & Stock 2015], p.125

A Reaction

This rings true for me. You almost see yourself making the brush strokes, or writing the phrase, or penning the chords. It is engagment which is essential for artistic experience. So all art lovers want to be artists?

The 14 ideas with the same theme [status of an artist's intentions in aesthetics]:

7270 Historical interpretation aims to recapture the author's view of the work [Croce]
20432 When viewing art, rather than flowers, we are aware of purpose, and sympathy with its creator [Fry]
23903 When we admire a work, we see ourselves as its creator [Weil]
20400 Intentions either succeed or fail, so external evidence for them is always irrelevant [Wimsatt/Beardsley, by Davies,S]
7266 The author's intentions are irrelevant to the judgement of a work's success [Wimsatt/Beardsley]
7267 Poetry, unlike messages, can be successful without communicating intentions [Wimsatt/Beardsley]
7268 The thoughts of a poem should be imputed to the dramatic speaker, and hardly at all to the poet [Wimsatt/Beardsley]
7269 The intentional fallacy is a romantic one [Wimsatt/Beardsley]
7271 Biography can reveal meanings and dramatic character, as well as possible intentions [Wimsatt/Beardsley]
12159 Without intentions we can't perceive sculpture, but that is not the whole story [Scruton]
20395 The title of a painting can be vital, and the artist decrees who the portrait represents [Davies,S]
20396 We must know what the work is meant to be, to evaluate the artist's achievement [Davies,S]
20399 Intentionalism says either meaning just is intention, or ('moderate') meaning is successful intention [Davies,S]
20401 The meaning is given by the audience's best guess at the author's intentions [Davies,S]