Art Essay

I stumbled upon another piece by Ellen Dissanayake beautifully written about art as human behavior. Ellen breaks down her piece into three different subjects: ethology and art, art viewed ethologically, and the value of art. The first excerpt focuses more on how animals and humans behave in their present habitats, hence ethology (the biology of behavior) (pg. 397). Inevitably we assume art has developed from our early ancestors through stone carvings and cave paintings. She touches up on the idea that art was a way of survival, although mentions the thought of art having no extrinsic value. The idea of art has evolved with no concrete definition as the idea of art if very abstract. Art has the ability to be composed of many different characteristics based on the context it is used and the “behavior” in which the term art is being coined. Ellen makes a point that perspectives on art depend on the culture and societal views. She appoints the idea of art having an “aesthetic regard” causing the observer seeing the deeper meaning behind the presented piece. The whole idea behind thinking a piece of work is special stems from the behavior of making and appreciating the specialness and value of art. She also touches on the idea of art being “socially useful” (pg. 402) as in people use art for therapeutic remedies and gives a sense of order to an individual.

In a recent reading by Elizabeth Telfer, she addresses the issue of whether or not food could be considered art. She touched up on the idea of food having an aesthetic property influencing our judgment determining whether food could be considered a form of art. In Ellen’s piece, she talks about the idea of a piece of work with an “aesthetic regard” should be experienced with a deeper meaning and understanding in which the way the piece was made. The homosapien has evolved in developing the behavior to appreciating art that maintains a higher value. We have developed cognition and perception to help us understand why we see certain pieces that draw our attention. Dissanayake focused this excerpt on the idea of the evolution of our behavior towards art due to the evolution of our cognition. This idea can be tied into Telfer’s with our evolving societal views influencing our outlook on culinary perfection.

On the other hand, Telfer makes an argument as to why food should not be considered a work of art. The way we look at food is looking at the remnants of a masticated animal. This could contradict the idea of Dissanayake’s view on the differences of the essence of a ritual being a form of art or representation of a higher power. She mentions the idea of a ritual for certain cultures as being a form of “language” in order to express some gratitude or feelings. Through the process of evolution, the idea of performing rituals have played a close relationship to presenting itself as art. In Telfer’s case, she does not see that even though we are presented a plate of well-dressed food, it may not be seen as art. However, in certain cultures, sacrificing animals and eating them is seen as both a ritual and art. But here we are again balancing on that fine line between concluding rituals are a form of art or simply a way of expressing gratitude.

In another reading by Lewis, he addresses the undermining definition and meaning behind values. Values develop from many extrinsic and intrinsic experiences and influences in our lives. The essay done by Dissanayake addresses art as having an impact on our everyday life as a useful tool. I feel this may lead to a self-realization and influence on the values we believe in. Art has the ability to shape the way we see ourselves as well as the world around us. If looking at a piece of art has the ability to influence our ideology and potentially our beliefs. Lewis mentions the thought of “drawing upon [our] own accumulated sense experience” (pg. 16). We develop our sense of making conclusions about pieces of art based on our past experiences. As Dissanayake mentions in her work that “ art provides as an ‘escape valve’ through license and heightened or diverted feeling” (pg. 402). Being able to immerse and divert your thinking from everyday life to analyze and interpret what you feel and see while looking at an art piece may have the ability to morph current beliefs and behaviors.

Works Cited

Dissanayake, E. (1980). The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 38, No. 4. pp. 397-406. Wiley.

Lewis, H. (1990). A Question of Values: Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices That Shape Our Lives. Axios Press.

Telfer, E. (2002). Food as art. In Neill, A. & Ridley, A (Eds.), Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2 ed., pp. 9-27). New York: Routledge.