Okay…let’s try this again. I think I’ve spent most of my awake hours today in a fog of intellectual confusion, which is great. The movie didn’t help either–talk about beauty, depth, meaning–Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control is art. At least as I view it. What does it mean when a documentary meets my definition of art?
Okay, let’s calm down. I had a point earlier that I made very badly: that film does have a narrative responsibility (that perhaps is on the decline; I think an argument could be made for that but it’s not really the point) that excessive realism interferes with, and that excessive realism destroys the escapist experience that is why many people to go the theater to view films at all. However, this narrative responsibility-escapism connection is by no means the entire purpose of film. I realized after I made that statement that in doing so I neglected inherent artistic value. And I do believe in film as art. However, even THIS statement is hard to deal with, because calling film art is great, but what is art and why does film merit classification as it?
In a desperate and probably futile effort to come to some independent definition of what art is and what purpose art serves, I make this list.
THINGS THAT ARE ART FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINDING SIMILARITIES AND COMING TO A MORE COMPLETE DEFINITION
– paintings, both classical and modern (in fact, the more surreal a painting, the more I tend to admire it as art).
– literature
– films (however films are tricky because while I believe that every film requires artistic talent, I don’t believe that every completed film qualifies as Art. Does that make sense?)
– sculpture
– music
– calligraphy
– photography
– poetry
– architecture
– ?????
I know that there are many more things that qualify as art; it’s just surprisingly hard to sit down and think of them all at once. So, what do these things have in common? They’re beautiful (but so is a person). They require an artist (is this a duh statement or something significant? I can’t tell). They provoke thought (but yes, Dr. C., so does a blueprint). They are unnecessary–in other words, the world would still function if all the art on the fact of the planet disappeared. Then again, your brother’s collection of Star Wars figures is unnecessary and that’s not art. They are the result of an intangible inspiration becoming tangible through human intervention. They contain symbolism, or can be given symbolism through interpretation. So what do we have? Art is: an intangible inspiration put in concrete form by an artist for the purpose of communicating some universal truth and stimulating audience thought. Does that work? Oh, it’s tremendously flawed and I’m sure the definition about communicating something about life through something lifelike is about a trillion times better, but that’s the definition I’m working with for now. If I spent all day defining art I would forget about film entirely, and that is the point.
So. Film. According to my definition, film is definitely art, perhaps even more so than a Da Vinci or Monet, because the experience is so much more evocative. However, not ALL film is art, as I stated before when I said that film can be artistic without being Art. Men in Black? Not Art. But then again, Sweet Valley High books aren’t Art either. Garfield comics, not Art. That picture of Paris Hilton picking her nose? Not Art. Yet all of these are in categories that are CAPABLE of producing Art.
So here we have two aspects of film: a narrative responsibility to help the audience escape from reality and tell a good story, and an inherent artistic value. The problem I’m finding is that the two kind of…clash. Helping the audience escape into the world of film ensures they won’t think about the universal truth the artist is trying to communicate. There will be no thought provoked. There will be a total lack of thought.
Wait. Where have I gone with this? I’m even more confused than when I started. And I’m supposing that these are the sole purposes of film, which I know they’re not–just adding any more would make my head explode.
What’s the answer?