more on this theme
|
more from this text
Single Idea 23933
[filed under theme 21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 6. Value of Art
]
Full Idea
Art is not only a means to good states of mind, but, perhaps, the best and most potent that we possess; …there is no state of mind more excellent or more intense than the state of aesthetic contemplation.
Gist of Idea
Aesthetic contemplation is the best and most intense mental state
Source
Clive Bell (Art [1913], II.III)
Book Ref
Bell,Clive: 'Art' [nk 2010], p.41
A Reaction
Why does intensity make it good? It is pretty intense being involved in a road accident, but that doesn't make it good. There are many states of mind we enjoy or value highly, but we need more than that to prove them objectively 'excellent'.
The
18 ideas
from Clive Bell
|
8115
|
Only artists can discern significant form; other people must look to art to find it
[Bell,C, by Gardner]
|
|
23922
|
The word 'beauty' leads to confusion, because it denotes distinct emotions
[Bell,C]
|
|
23921
|
Our feeling for natural beauty is different from the aesthetic emotion of art
[Bell,C]
|
|
23923
|
Visual form can create a sublime mental state
[Bell,C]
|
|
23925
|
Mere copies of pictures are not significant - unless the copies are very exact
[Bell,C]
|
|
23926
|
Art is distinguished by its aesthetic emotion, which produces appropriate form
[Bell,C]
|
|
23927
|
Aestheticism invites artist to create beauty, but with no indication of how to do it
[Bell,C]
|
|
23928
|
Good art produces exaltation and detachment
[Bell,C]
|
|
23924
|
Maybe significant form gives us a feeling for ultimate reality
[Bell,C]
|
|
23929
|
We only see landscapes as artistic if we ignore their instrumental value
[Bell,C]
|
|
23930
|
Religion sees infinite value in some things, and irrelevance in the rest
[Bell,C]
|
|
23931
|
Significant form is the essence of art, which I believe expresses an emotion about reality
[Bell,C]
|
|
23932
|
Art is the expression of an emotion for ultimate reality
[Bell,C]
|
|
22691
|
Only artistic qualities matter in art, because they also have the highest moral value
[Bell,C]
|
|
23933
|
Aesthetic contemplation is the best and most intense mental state
[Bell,C]
|
|
23934
|
The only expression art could have is the emotion resulting from pure form
[Bell,C]
|
|
23935
|
Aesthetic experience is an exaltation which increases the possibilities of life
[Bell,C]
|
|
20434
|
'Form' is visual relations, and it is 'significant' if it moves us aesthetically; art needs both
[Bell,C, by Feagin]
|