When looking at Pablo Picasso’s “Girl Before a Mirror”, one can obviously make out a girl observing herself in front of a mirror. The woman is portrayed one way before the mirror and another way in her reflection. Picasso is obviously sending a message behind the meaning of his work. He also, more than likely, has a reason and story behind why he rendered the work of art. This message and story become useless when it is reproduced onto a computer screen, according to John Berger. In his Ways of Seeing, Berger explains how technology accompanied by today’s world has somewhat tainted the worth and overall beauty of experiencing art.
One no longer has the ability to remove him or herself from reality or as Clive Bell would say, have an “aesthetic experience” to the work of art because it is masked behind a pixelated screen. Bell speaks of this experience and how it defines the purpose of art in his book, Art. The findings of each of these philosophers share themes of experiencing, understanding and determining works of art. Within these themes are distinct subjective views on what each of them believes is true. True art can jump at you with an immediate storyline or leave you guessing what the artist was depicting.
Either way, there is some sort of communication from the artist to the audience through visual means. Placement of a work of art and its surroundings plays a big part in the experience the audience has towards the work of art, according to Berger. He felt as though “the invention of the camera changed the way men saw” (Berger 104) due to all that it took away from art. Art was often strategically placed in certain settings that told ended up telling some sort of story, such on the wall and ceilings of cathedrals and churches.
The murals ainted in these areas gave the audience a historical background of the site. These stories had the ability to leave the audience with a small sense of experience. Both Berger and Bell agreed that the there is a certain type of experience that is to be had by the audience while viewing art. Bell says that those who see art as a “constant source of passionate emotion” are the only ones able to have this experience (Bell 38). He believes that you are not able to experience or recognize the beauty within art even if it is not behind a computer screen. Berger does not think quite the same.
He views art as accessible to everyone, more or so to the ones who view it in museums or in the rare form because he believes that the surroundings cause the experience, not the mindset. There is a valid connection between personal interests relating to how one begins to understand art. If someone likes a pair of sneakers and that pair of sneakers is sketched to perfection and hung on a wall, the person will more than likely gravitate towards realizing the intricate stroke patterns of the artist while examining his or her infatuation with the sneaker in a new light.
Berger says that “looking” and “seeing” are two extremely different words used “a bit loosely” (Berger 12). Most people often go to museums and galleries and just “look” at paintings of so much worth, value, and meaning instead of “seeing” the bigger picture. Seeing, to Berger, understands the intentions of the artist and some sort of respect. “People who respond immediately and surely to works of art… are often quite as incapable of talking sense about aesthetics”, meaning they concluded “seeing” too quickly, causing them to fail in appreciating the art (Bell 58).
Despite their common views on respect towards understanding, Berger viewed everyone’s seeing capabilities as partially influenced by setting unlike Bell, who believes that their appreciation is based off of their personal respect and interest in whatever the object is in the work of art or how they can specifically relate to it. If one does not connect or relate to a work of art, it does not necessarily mean that it is entirely impractical.
The purpose of a work of art is not only to form a connection between the audience and the artist but to also give way for the artist to express his or her emotions fully through form of what they believe is art. Berger makes the point that these connection and expressions are made less authentic and less effective with photography at the fingertips of just about everyone. Photography is a gift and a curse to the world of art because it does make art accessible to everyone everywhere, but as Berger says, it also “destroys its unique original meaning” of the artists’ portrayal (Berger 19).
Bell also agrees with the fact that art is not defined by its ability to connect. However, Bell believes that art is built upon a theory of significant forms. Significant forms, to Bell, have the power to bring out the aesthetic feeling within one, if they are truly interested in feeling that way. Bell says that in order for one to “appreciate a work of art”, the person needs to bring “a sense of form and color and a knowledge of three-dimensional space” and this knowledge will help in aiding the “appreciation of many great works, since many of the most moving forms ever created are in three dimensions” (Bell 58).
Bell makes the argument that true art is only deemed true art if it falls within the category of threedimensional and succeeds in the attempt to make the audience veer always from reality and begin using aesthetic emotions. Berger is not in the same boat when it comes to the determining r. He determines art by its placement and overall originality as opposed to the creative stance the artist wished to take. One can agree that everyone sees things differently depending on personal interests and experiences. Philosophers Berger and Bell delve deeper into the reasons why this is so and how it pertains to art in relation to its overall purpose.
In his Ways of Seeing, Berger describes the consequences of reproduction and his view of the purpose of art. Bell also discusses his requirements for deeming as composition a work of art in his Art. Both philosophers touch on key points regarding the same themed topic, but take slightly different stances. They both address the themes of experiencing, understanding and determining a work of art. Within these themes, Berger and Bell both express their views and their reasoning behind where they stand regarding them.