#ArtfullyPhilosophical

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Art Reflection #3: Can taste be taught?

Is a question that sounds like “Can money buy class?” and the answers may vary depending on the perception of a person. In the discussion of Hume and Montesquieu��s critical take on taste and how it can be modulated through educational training has me thinking about the literary classics.

There are thousands of examples but for me it was Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, recommended to me in order to teach me what kinds of books I should be reading. At age 11, I had a tough time understanding one paragraph because of the vocabulary used and my limited capacity to understand. Until finally, I was 16 when I finished reading it and ended up disliking the novel.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, first published in 1847

Hume and Montesquieu expressly state that while taste is subjective, it can still be honed and sharpened through education. They urge us to go outside our natural inclinations, to search for better perspectives and not just stubbornly insist that what we like is good enough. 

Despite disliking Wuthering Heights, it still gave me an acquired taste for the classics, better vocabulary, and analyzation skills. While I could insist on reading fluff novels as it requires less thinking and are easy to read, it would be devastating to have never cried about how Atticus defended Tom against racial discrimination.

Now, to answer the abovementioned question: Yes, my acquired taste in the classics is testament to this. It taught me to look for greater depth and to distinguish good literature. BUT I also think there is a great difference between knowing what is good and actually being committed to appreciating goodness. Stated differently, I may claim that the classics are good for argument’s sake but there is no compelling reason for me to keep reading them. It is up to us to choose how our tastes become dignified. We have to remember to choose correctly.

[artfully-philosophical]

Art Reflection #2: The Chair

Mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.

- Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction,” (1935).

Whenever people hear the word “political” everything negative comes to mind because it is undeniably complicated, dirty, and almost soulless. So, when someone tries to politicize something beautiful like art, it would be impossible not to hear complaints of “Bakit kailangan pang gawin politikal” or “Hindi ba pwedeng enjoyin na lang natin ang bagay-bagay” because art is most often considered to be an escape from the harsh reality, not a mirror of it.

People are so adamant to escape reality that it became habitual, escapism became a cultural thing. That’s why when we see something disturbing in something that is supposed to be ‘aesthetic’ we almost recoil from the inside out in our refusal to accept it. I think this highlights why Benjamin’s take on art is revolutionary, it refuses to be a mindless tool for fascism or to be a cog in the system of oppression that we face. In the politicization of the aesthetic, we recognize the role of art to be democratic, to use it to amplify the voices of the people, and for art to work for our benefit.

A contemporary form of art that is often used to rebel against oppressive political regimes and societal discrepancies is music. In this sense, an example that immediately comes to mind is Upuan by the Filipino rap artist Gloc 9 ft. Jeazelle Grutas.

The song was released in June 2009 and yet the underlying meaning of the song still resonates within me 13 years later.

In detail:

Kayo po na nakaupo Subukan niyo namang tumayo At baka matanaw, at baka matanaw na niyo Ang tunay na kalagayan ko

Right off the bat, the song directly alludes to those in our society that sits so comfortably they become blind to the ills of those around them. The chair can either be symbolizing those who are in politics for self-serving reasons or the powerful people in big corporations, who sit nicely in air-conditioned rooms in high-rises and noise-proof walls amidst poverty.

In comparison: Gloc 9 uses compelling statements in the following verses to effectively illustrate the dark contrast between those who sit in the chair and those on the other side of the grass.

'Di ko alam kung talagang maraming harang O mataas lang ang bakod O nagbubulag-bulagan lamang po kayo Kahit sa dami ng pera niyo Walang doktor na makapagpapalinaw ng mata niyo

Perhaps the most chilling part of the lyrics, as it points to the sheer apathy that pervades those in power and the frustrating circumstances that we face, it highlights that the system is built to make sure people who try will eventually fail.

As is written in the quote at the start of this reflection, the mechanical reproduction of art frees it from the vacuum that it must only exist in a certain way. That to preserve the ‘aura’ art must be seen in its most ‘original’ form, exclusively viewed in the biggest galleries across the globe. Seen in the lyrics written by Gloc 9, music as art can exist to be alluring and participatory in the unveiling of the inequalities we experience.

In the age of mechanical reproduction, art forces you to look around you and feel the need to do something, exactly the way it should be.

[artfully-philosophical]

Art Reflection #1: The Portmanteau of Jackie Kennedy

I have always liked art that took the banalities of everyday and turned them into something magical. Imitational art, in its varying mediums, have always intrigued me as I always thought “how could something look so similar and yet… not.” For this weeks’ discussion of The Art of Imitation we are enlightened on two contrasting perspectives on mimetic arts, and it was able to explain how the complexities of artistic pieces correlated with our reality.

Plato’s vehement dislike of art stems from the core of his philosophy, that the ultimate form of reality is in its archetypal blueprint in the World of Forms. Therefore, to make art that is a copy of the imperfect physical reality we experience is to make something thrice removed from perfection. Besides the lack of functionality of art, because it just copies the appearance without attaining the use of the object, he thinks that art evokes irrational emotions. This I find to be completely ridiculous as emotions is one of the best thing that the arts could give us that no other field can match. With this, Aristotle would find my statement to be agreeable. Completely contrasting from Plato, Aristotle postulates that art is not just a matter of copying and pasting objects in separate mediums. Art for him is the portrayal of something that we otherwise would not notice, the nooks and crannies of real life that we would have missed are accentuated and given meaning.

More than just the reproduction of something, poetic imitation for Aristotle also induces catharsis. It allows us to purge feelings and emotions that we have trouble expressing without going through rough lengths.

(Jackie. Advertisement. IMDB.com. 2016. Web. 9 December. 2016.)

A great example to this is Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in the movie with the same name as her titular character. Not only was she able to artfully imitate the appearance of the former First Lady of America, but she also mimicked her accent, behavior, walk, speech pattern and voice, as well as Jackie’s little habits picked up from hours of footage that she examined.

Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy, clad in the latter’s signature pearls and Dior two-piece suit. Kennedy’s iconic bouffant hair, red lips, and even the faraway look are copied down to the last detail. (From left to right: Getty Images, Everette Collection as cited in https://www.vogue.com/article/jackie-natalie-portman-jacqueline-kennedy-beauty-rules-golden-globes-2017)

Jackie Kennedy as she proceeded to the Funeral event of then President JFK. Chilling how every contour of her dress, movement of her veil, and hat were replicated perfectly. The morbid dissonance and utter hopelessness felt after the reenactment of the assassination still lingers within the viewers, creating catharsis not easily achieved through any activity. (From left to right: Getty Images, Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Portman’s imitation of Kennedy was more than the implementation of facts gathered, she was able to provide depth to the pain and turbulence that Jackie went through to every person who watched. Jackie Kennedy as portrayed took on another meaning, she became relational, less impersonal from her figure in history books. Suddenly, those who saw this uncanny portmanteau of Jackie Kennedy on the big screen felt a tiny fraction of her anguish as John F. Kennedy was assassinated, as if their own spouse got shot but not really. This moving art was able to provide them an expression of pain without the actual experience to cause it. The clear human-ness of the scene captured the interiority of different people.

The art of imitation as understood through the lens of Aristotle provides for us a magnified insight into reality, it is neither inferior nor is it superficial. Mimesis takes on a life of its own that helps us understand depths of ourselves that mere reason cannot provide.

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To be deprived of art and left alone with philosophy is to be close to Hell.

Igor Stravinski and Robert Craft, (Retrospectives and Conclusions, 1969)