ART criteria. Artist and Viewer – The Difference.

“Good ART must…” - How could we finish the sentence? What kind of criteria should be filled in there? Well, it depends on which position are you looking at the ART.

Let’s say there are two main positions you may look at ART: as the Artist and the Viewer. Let us start from the second one – the position most of us actually have. What are the main criteria for viewers?

The Viewer

As viewers, the main thing in the artwork we mostly can look at is a result. ““Art,” is the ready answer…” (Hospers, 2019). So, the standards for us depends on our own feelings, and the final step of work we see.

Causing feelings

Good ART must cause some kind of feelings. It might be something new, something we never thought about before, something mind-opening. Or something old, causing warm feelings, something familiar, nostalgia. It might make you feel fear, or confuse you, or even make you feel hungry! But it affects you in some way.

Well done

Good ART must be well-done. It doesn’t mean being beautiful. ART might even disgust you, but still, be good. It means, when you look at a piece of art, there is nothing wrong or unfinished in it. On your opinion.

Idea

Good ART must have an idea in it, something it says or does by its existence. And for artwork to be good, the idea must be nice too. Might be something unusual, or touching word problems, or whatever you as a viewer think a good idea is.

Of course, good art shouldn’t have all of these at the same time. Also, you might find some of those points more or less important. Or even not important at all, and having nothing to do with good art. Each of us interprets (“…make sense of it.” (Barret, 2017, p10)) work of art depending on himself. Art perception is really subjective.

The Artist

Artists criteria are even more subjective. It depends on what do you, as an artist, want from yourself and from your works at this moment of your life.

It might be almost anything! For example, it might be really similar to the viewer’s point, and being concentrated on the result so the norms would be: good-looking, well-done, or how the result stands with the picture in your head. Or it might depend on the process. Something like: Improvement of my own skills, while creating this; Making experiments and challenging myself with this work. It also might be in the opposite way – This art was really easy for me to do, and I like the result, so this is good art, and I am a great artist, I can do something beautiful with no effort. The artist even might put the responsibility on other people, like “My mom thinks this art is pretty” or “The people from the internet say my artwork is good”.

As an artist, for now, I have three main standards:

• Well-done

• Great representing of my idea

• It brings something new or challenges me

I try to make arts so at least one of these would be in there. Obviously, it doesn’t make all my arts good, but it shows I try them to be.

In conclusion, it really depends on human and on the position what good art must or must not be. It is interesting to think, which criteria do you have in your head, especially as a maker, so you could effect on them, and not leaving it in your subconscious.

Reference list:

Hospers, J. (2017) Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-art (Accessed: 24 February 2019)

Barrett, T. (2017) Why Is That Art? Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art. Third Edition. USA: Oxford University Press.