How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

What is art? What is beauty?

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Philosophy Explorer
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How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

Looked up their definitions and checked Wikipedia. Perhaps examples of each would clarify.

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Arising_uk
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Arising_uk »

Abstract art is Art. :roll:
surreptitious57
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by surreptitious57 »

All art by definition is abstract since it is ultimately a product of the mind
It might be physical in actual form but that is merely how it is manifested
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Sir-Sister-of-Suck
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Sir-Sister-of-Suck »

...By noticing that one of them is completely devoid of all talent. Well the modern contemporary stuff is, anyway.

The psychedelic abstract art actually involves a lot of different skills.
Dalek Prime
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Dalek Prime »

Art is a Van Dyke. Abstract art is someone who can't paint as well as Van Dyke.
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Greta
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Greta »

Arising_uk wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:24 pm Abstract art is Art.
That's the nub of it.

From there distinguishing any styles and schools won't always be clear due to inevitable areas of overlap. The labels are just convenient shorthand categories into which art is under no obligation to fit.

Generally, abstract art is where the content is either metaphorical (eg, bold black or red lines conveying anger) or absent because the creator was focusing on form rather than content. It is essentially opposite to realism.

As a fan of instrumental music, that too can simply be about the beauty of form without need for any narrative content aside from the emotional journey in time a listener may enjoy from the start to the end of the piece.
Dubious
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Dubious »

One you can figure out and the other one you can't!
Jangle
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Jangle »

Abstract art is a genre of art, so there's not really room to distinguish between the two. I'm assuming you're asking how to distinguish abstract art from other forms of art. This can be tricky since all paintings cannot be true representations of reality and are therefore at least partially abstract. Even more, each movement in abstract art would have different distinguishing features.

Generally, I view art that has intentionally painted something that is not firmly placed in reality. Whether this is simply a canvas with splatters or a painting that resembles reality in a different way than we perceive it (such as Cubism). I think abstract art is typically more about creating a physical representation of a feeling/emotion than actual content.
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-1-
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by -1- »

non-abstract art is like a novel or a short story -- you can place it in reality. Abstract art is like music -- it speaks to you but you don't know how or via what inner senses.
Jangle
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Jangle »

-1- wrote: Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:57 am non-abstract art is like a novel or a short story -- you can place it in reality. Abstract art is like music -- it speaks to you but you don't know how or via what inner senses.
Wow, I like that so much better than what I said. It really is something that appeals to your inner senses and evokes something that isn't necessarily tangible.
Nick_A
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Nick_A »

Philosophy Explorer wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:16 pm Looked up their definitions and checked Wikipedia. Perhaps examples of each would clarify.

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Art is a concept like love and philosophy in that they have lost their recognition of relative value. If people as a whole do not recognize objective quality in art, it cannot be distinguished from abstract art. I remember when I was happy that Fadeyev understood the value of art and could distinguish it from expression. One doesn't often read this quality of understanding so I thought to share it on this thread. This excerpt from the article is just the basics. Reading the rest of the article clarifies the difference between art and expression of impulse as in abstract art

http://fadeyev.net/what-is-art/
Now that we have a definition of value, we can give a definition for “art”: Art is transmission of human value. It is not necessary to go beyond this, but if we wanted a more specific definition we could say that: Art is a method of transmitting human value by means of images, sound and language (language being also accessible through touch).

Three points:

The word “value” here is used in the original context of my definition above – it is something one can feel rather than something that one only states on paper. Thus, it is imperative that the artist feels the object of their work, or else it is not a work of art but an illustration, or some other material output which can be created just as well by a robot or a force of nature.

Art is transmission of the artist’s perception of value, a transmission of his feelings to another person. If a work cannot transmit the intended feeling of value to at least one other person, then it cannot be identified as art. It will be expression without an audience, and so, just as above, it will be merely an illustration or some other object that generates no feeling from the observer, or generates a feeling not intended by the artist.

The value being transmitted must be human, i.e. an ethical value. As mentioned above, animals also have “values”, but they are very basic values that we call drives and instincts. For example, one can easily generate the feeling of surprise or shock in an individual by using some sudden loud noise or some other powerful audio or visual effect. That the artist felt the same emotion of shock as the observer does not make the work art because the feeling is animalistic rather than human.
trokanmariel
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by trokanmariel »

art = not abstract art

not abstract art = abstract reality

art = abstract reality
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A_Seagull
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by A_Seagull »

What you do is rotate the art work by 180 degree, if there is no change in the quality of the art then it is abstract.
odysseus
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by odysseus »

Abstract art IS art. That is why it is called abstract ART

The question you are looking for is what is it that makes traditional or historical art, or, imitation or representation, and abstractionism belong to the same classification, that is, art? The answer is they are all conveyors of aesthetic value through a physical medium. To take up something As art is to consider that thing for its aesthetic value. Now, how does one identify aesthetic value? Much more difficult question.
Walker
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Re: How would you distinguish art from abstract art?

Post by Walker »

Abstract art does not exist as a representation of reality.

Abstract art exists as reality, as an entity in and of itself.

Reality exists as order.

The design of the order initially is perceived, or yet to be discovered.

In the non-visual sense, GW is abstract art.
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