Work of art

with graveposts from Vanuatu]]

A Work of Art, Artwork, Art piece, or Art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation. The term "a work of art" can apply to:

an example of fine art such as a painting or sculpture

a fine work of architecture or landscape design

an object that has been designed specifically for its aesthetic appeal, such as a piece of jewellery

an object that has been designed for aesthetic appeal as well as functional purpose, such as a table lamp

a photograph, film or visual computer program

a work of conceptual art or performance art

a production of live performance such as theater, ballet or opera

The term "Objets d′art" can be a synonym, a popularized version for interior design commerce, or a vulgarism of pretension. This article is concerned with the "work of art" term and concept as used in and applied to the Visual arts, although other fields such as aural-music and written word-literature have similar issues and philosophies.

Definition

ornament with grapes vine, (1115–1234 CE)]] A work of art in the visual arts is a physical two or three dimensional object that is professionally determined or popularly considered to fulfill a primarily independent aesthetic function. A singular art object is often seen in the context of a larger Art movement or artistic era, such as: a genre, aesthetic convention, culture, or regional-national distinction. It can also be seen as an item within an artist's "body of work" or oeuvre. The term is commonly used by: museum and cultural heritage curators, the interested public, the art patron-private art collector community, and art galleries.

Physical objects that document immaterial or conceptual art works, but do not conform to artistic conventions can be redefined and reclassified as art objects. Some Dada and Neo-Dada conceptual and readymade works have received later inclusion. Also some architectural renderings and models of unbuilt projects, such as by Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Frank Gehry - are other examples.

The products of environmental design, depending on intention and execution, can be "works of art" and include: Land art, Site-specific art, Architecture, Gardens, Landscape architecture, Installation art, Rock art, and Megalithic monuments.

Theories

Marcel Duchamp critiqued the idea that the objet d’art should be a unique product of an artist's labour, representational of their technical skill and/or artistic caprice. Theorists have argued that objects and people do not have a constant meaning, but their meanings are fashioned by humans in the context of their culture, as they have the ability to make things mean or signify something.

Artist Michael Craig-Martin, creator of An Oak Tree, said of his work - "It's not a symbol. I have changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree. I didn't change its appearance. The actual oak tree is physically present, but in the form of a glass of water."

Distinctions

Some art theorists and writers have long made a distinction between the physical qualities of an art object and its identity-status as an artwork. For example, a painting by Rembrandt has a physical existence as an "oil painting on canvas" that is separate from its identity as a masterpiece "work of art" or the artist's Magnum opus. Many works of art are initially denied "museum quality" or artistic merit, and later become accepted and valued in museum and private collections. Works by the Impressionists and non-representational Abstract artists are examples. Some, such as the "Readymades" of Marcel Duchamp including his infamous 'urinal "Fountain'", are later reproduced as "museum quality replicas".

There is an indefinite distinction, for current or historical aesthetic items: between "fine art" objects made by "artists"; and folk art, craft-work, or "applied art" objects made by "first, second, or third-world" designers, artisans and craftspeople. Contemporary and archeological Indigenous art, industrial design items in limited or mass production, and places created by environmental designers and cultural landscapes, are some examples. The term has been consistently available for debate, reconsideration, and redefinition.

See also

by Plasmaphone, at ICMC-2007.]]

Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas

Cultural artifact

Magnum opus

Taste (sociology)

Western canon

Anti-art

Outline of aesthetics

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

References

Further reading

Richard Wollheim, Art and Its Objects, 2nd ed., 1980, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521 29706 0. The classic philosophical enquiry into what a work of art is.

External links

Wiktionary

Work of art - (Wiktionary)

Artwork - (Wiktionary)

Objet d’art - (Wiktionary)

Art student - (Wiktionary)

----

Category:Concepts in aesthetics Category:Creativity Category:Architecture Category:Landscape architecture Category:History of landscape design Category:Architectural communication