Download 4. Mimetic and Expressive Theories

Mimetic and Expressive Theories
Mimetic Theory
Mimesis: Meaning
• Mimesis (Ancient Greek:"to imitate," from
(mimos), "imitator, actor") is a critical and
philosophical term that carries a wide range of
meanings, which include imitation,
representation, mimicry, imitatio, receptivity,
nonsensuous similarity, the act of resembling,
the act of expression, and the presentation of
the self.
Mimesis:Epistemology
• In ancient Greece, mimesis was an idea that
governed the creation of works of art, in
particular, with correspondence to the physical
world understood as a model for beauty, truth
and the good.
• The Mimetic Theory is concerned with the art
work itself.
• It is a reflection of nature.
• The work is a correct representation of reality.
Mimesis: Critics
• Mimesis has been theorized by thinkers as:
Plato, Aristotle, Philip Sidney, William
Wordsworth,Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Adam
Smith, Sigmund Freud, Luce Irigaray, René
Girard, and Homi Bhabha.
Mimesis: Assertion
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Art Imitates nature.
To be a work of art it need to look realistic.
The work needs to copy reality.
The work needs to represent, reflect or copy a section of reality.
One tends to like art that looks real because it can be easily
recognized and understood.
To be art it need to be correct, complete, and vivid in it’s
representation.
The work of art needs to show that the artist has technical skill.
Realistic art may teach and reform by emphasizing social ugliness
and injustice.
Idealistic or realistic art may edify and inspire.
Questions
• According to the Mimetic theory does a work of
art have to be realistic to be considered a good
work of art?
• Is it unintellectual to like art that mimics nature
exactly?
• To be considered a work of art, must the object
be easily recognized?
• If something is photographically correct is it just a
copy of the object or a reproduction?
Expressive Theory
• The Expressive theory of art was born of the
romantic movement, which reacted against C18th
classicism and placed the individual at the centre
of art. According to this theory, Art was seen as
the means of portraying the unique, individual
feelings and emotions of the artist and good art
should successfully communicate the feelings and
emotions which the artist intended to express.
What is 18th Century classicism
• In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began
to move toward a new style in architecture,
literature, and the arts, generally known as
Classicism, which sought to emulate the ideals of
Classical antiquity and especially those of
Classical Greece. This took place while still tightly
linked to the court culture and absolutism, with
its formality and emphasis on order and hierarchy
Tolstoy
• Tolstoy's definition of art was very much out
of the Expressive mould:
• "Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that
one person consciously, by certain external
signs, conveys to others feelings he has
experienced, and other people are affected by
these feelings and live them over in
themselves."
Salvador Dali
Assignment
• Find out about the Italian Renaissance art
(1420-1600)
• Find famous art work that support the
mimetic theory.
• Find out about Salvador Dali’s surrealism
• select paintings that support the expressive
theory.