#whatdowethink | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

is-this-art-or · 16 days ago

Text

Reflections in Candlelight:

“In the dim glow of a flickering candle, the bathroom becomes at once a stage and a sanctuary. The image is simple at first, a naked woman capturing herself in the bathroom mirror, but that simplicity is deceptive. The mirror, divided into three panels, fragments the body into three distinct versions of itself, each revealing a different angle. This is where vulnerability finds its form, and where the line between observer and observed blurs into obscurity.

The candlelight softens the harsh edges, casting deep shadows that obscure as much as they reveal. Each panel of the mirror shows a different angle, revealing different perspectives on the scene, one the farthest from the light half cut-off, as though included as an afterthought. The next captured fully, bathed in revealing light, the phone featured front and center. The third, almost washed out by light and steam lingering at the edges of the mirror. For a moment the nudity overcomes the presence of the phone there in the figure's hand. She is simultaneously exposed and concealed, the phone reminding us that this vulnerability is a choice. The viewer, for a moment, takes on the role of photographer, exploring the vulnerability of revealing oneself for consumption and then being reminded that this whole scene was constructed. Now aware of their role in this staged scene, they are compelled to reflect on their participation in both viewing and creating.

The act of holding the camera brings an intensely personal element to the image. It’s not just a captured moment; it’s a moment deliberately made. The presence of the camera in the frame reminds us that this is a constructed scene, carefully staged rather than spontaneously caught. The viewer is not merely a passive observer but is invited into the act of creation itself. In this way, the viewer becomes the creator, embodying the dual role of the one behind the lens and the one reflected in the mirror.

This duality, the creator becoming the subject and vice versa, forces a confrontation with the self. The image is not just about being seen; it’s about the power dynamics of seeing and being seen, of staging and being staged, blurring the lines between the personal and the performative. In this selfie, we find a raw critique of the boundaries between art and pornography or intimacy, between spontaneity and deliberation. It invites the viewer to consider not only what is being seen but also the process of creation itself. This is not merely an image; it is a constructed moment that speaks to the complex relationship between the artist, the subject, and the audience.”

The story:

I took this photo as I got ready to jump in the shower. I remember I had a migraine so I didn’t want to use the overhead lights, and I remembered a candlelight image I took earlier that year and decided to replicate it. I remember moving the candle around until it cast the light just how I wanted it and moving myself and my phone until I got the best image. There are 5 or 6 pictures in this set, but this one is my favorite. I love the intention I put into it, the fact that I was recreating a previous shot, the inherent vulnerability of nudity and being in the bathroom. I love that I was trying to create a shot that felt like it was catching a moment, but it could never be anything but staged. I loved the layers.

Getting Philosophical:

This blog was inspired by a handful of experiences: an ethics class where we considered whether pornography could be considered art, the 8,000+ naked pictures of myself, some of which I consider art, and a general sense of external shame for having and embracing my sexuality. While philosophy and the art world have their own definitions of art and what it is, I propose this definition as a sort of thesis for this blog: art is something created by a person intentionally to convey a message. At first glance, this definition seems comprehensive. Art usually evokes emotion in its audience and is crafted with purpose. However, even this seemingly straightforward statement warrants a deeper examination. Let’s break down the components: Art is (something) (created) (by a person) (intentionally) (to convey a message).

Something: This one is easy, any object or complete work

Created: to be created is to be made - Oxford Languages agrees with me here, meaning to be brought into existence.

By a person: For the sake of this discussion I will define a person as a human being or homo sapien. While this seems simple it becomes complicated when we consider non-human creators, like AI.

Intentionally: This means it was done on purpose.

To convey a message: Here we start to see the complexity start to arise. Different fields have different ideas about what this means. Semiotics, the study of signs and symbols and their use and interpretation, has a slightly different perspective on the topic than a sociologist might take, than a philosopher might take, etc. For instance, in the US a red octagon tells us we should stop, this is a result of socially agreed upon messaging telling us what to understand. But what happens when a message was received without intention? Consider this: A building catches on fire due to an electrical fault, a man walking by sees this and perceives a message from the divine. Neither the building nor its creators ever intended to convey such a message and yet it was the one received. This leads us to the question: Must a message be intended, or need it simply be derived through perception?

Consider still life and landscape paintings. To a typical observer, these don’t exist to convey a message, there is no political subtext or hidden meaning, but this is far from the truth. At the very least these types of paintings are asking you to see the beauty of the world through the artist's eyes, saying without words, “Look at this moment in time, see it’s beauty as I did.” This alone is enough to convey a message.

So, we have two questions to lead us forward: Must meaning be intended? And must that meaning be clear?

With this in mind we can expand from our granular examination, each set of parentheses emphasizes a different idea that we will examine:

I believe that art is: [something {created by a person] (intentionally} to convey a message.)

Created by a person

What does it mean to be created by a person? The nuances are endless, especially with the advent of technology ranging from pottery molds to AI generated audio, video, and voice products. Consider pottery: is a ceramic work only handmade if it was thrown on a wheel or sculpted by hand? Does the use of tools interfere with our definition? And does the use of molds negate the human effort embedded in each final piece? What about fabric arts? Is a shirt only hand made if the fabric was hand woven and the final product hand stitched? What if the creator uses mass produced fabric and a sewing machine? Is this no longer hand made? Digital art further complicates this: Is an image created by a person if it was completely drawn on a computer? What about if a human types a prompt into an AI image generator and carefully curates the results? Is this a human creation? They did cause the thing to exist, but their labor was not in the creation of the image but in the curation. These questions might seem foolish, but they are not without merit, as technology advances, we must consider these questions.

I’ll give you my answer while saying I am open to debate-

In my mind, to be created by a person means that a person caused the thing to exist, this ranges from using one's physical body to create all the way down to using one's mind to prompt a computer to create. The important thing to remember is that human creation is not the only component of my definition of art.

Created Intentionally

What about intentionality? Trees in a forest aren’t art, they are trees doing tree things, but if I capture the trees in film, have the trees now become art or is only the photo art? Is the photo even art at all?

And what do we think of spilled milk forming an attractive pattern? If a toddler spilled their milk across the floor and just before their caretaker cleaned it up, they paused to admire its intricacies, did the spill become art in that moment? The child might have spilled the milk on purpose, to convey to their caretaker that they were displeased, thus we have an intentional act to convey a message, but was the intention to create art? Of course not, so again we must examine if the art had to be intended as art to be counted as such.

Further still, what do we have to say about pour painting, the new format of engaging with paint that consists of spilling it across a canvas and manipulating the canvas to approach a desired result. Obviously, this act was done with the intention of creating something at least approaching art, and it was done by a person, and taking my previous definition of message conveyance that the message could be as simple as “see the beauty in this as I saw it,” I would argue that this is in fact art.

Back to the point of intention though, the trees in the forest were not trying to be beautiful, they were trying to live and I, the photographer, perceived them as beautiful so I captured them in that moment. The spill was (could have been) intentional, but the goal was not to create anything, the goal was to destroy. The pour painter is creating with the intention to create.

So, must the intention to create art be present in its creation to constitute the final work as art?

Again, I’ll give you my thoughts and look forward to hearing your thoughts-

I do not think that the intentionality in this definition is limited to the intention to create or be art, but rather the intention to convey something to another must exist.

Intentionally convey a message

This feels like the funkiest part of my definition, as shown above by my questions about if a message must be intended or simply perceived. Must the message be significant? Can the message be as simple as wanting to share something you found interesting?

As you’ll find reading through this blog, I take a rather broad definition of art. I think a broad definition is only appropriate when considering how many exceptions to the rule there are, how many times the rules have been changed.

An invitation-

As I write these posts, I find myself exploring new and interesting ideas. I invite you to join me on this journey, there will be moments of the erotic, sometimes obscene, maybe even intimate. We will explore thoughts and ideas, expanding on whatever comes to mind. I hope for these posts to start a conversation, and maybe we can find my niche.

#alternative #artwork #authors #love poem #makeup #portrait #tattoos #mirror #whatevenisart #whatdowethink #inanimate insanity invitational

2 notes · View notes