Gigi Soh

The answer towards the long-continuing argue betwixt "Art imitating Life, and Life imitating Art", just similar that of the chicken and egg analogy, lies in the presence of context.

"If you remove something from the context of its everyday environment, does information technology withal be equally intended–or does information technology become something else entirely?" – Daveion Thompson, Inter-Liminal

Art in itself is something that is non-definitive. In the past, oftentimes considered equally the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in the form of a painting or sculpture. In the present, a style of expression across the means of tangibility. In the form of perchance annihilation, a spectacle of the display of emotion, bringing across a point or even putting everyday objects in a different context.

Throughout the human history of art, philosophers, artists and scholars accept formulated strong standpoints on the conclusion towards this word. In the Republic*, Plato says that fine art imitates the objects and events of ordinary life. He believed in the logic of art being twice removed from the truth. In other words, explaining that a work of art is a copy of a copy of a form.

Plato practised the concept of 'thought' being the ultimate reality and perceived concrete things as hazy representations of the ideal type. An example is the painting of a chair. The idea of the 'chair' originated from the mind of the carpenter, which he then used the material wood to give it a physical course. The painter then creates the picture from imitating the course of the chair. Therefore, displaying how the painting is twice removed from the reality of the idea.

On the contrary, Aristotle believed in life every bit an imitation of fine art. Justifying that the artist does not simply reflect the concrete object in the manner of a mirror. Even and then, it only gives likeness to the concrete grade, which is always less than original. He believed that fine art cannot be a slavish copy of reality and the deviation lies in the artist's purpose of his re-presentation of piece of work. It involves a coherent injection of the artist'south perception of reality, incorporating elements of selected events and characters, which brings about personal values and experiences. This, in turn, reveal the truths and essence of an object we otherwise, would non have noticed in its raw form.

Formerly, at that place was an existing gap between that of art and life, and nigh people believed that a painting is simply an false of all living things. In the early 1940s, the idea of fine art as simulated dissipated with the birth of the Abstruse Expressionism movement. With the anxiety and trauma, Earth War II has brought on, expressionist art acted as a course of escapism from the intensifying politically charged atmosphere.

Information technology instilled a shift in the relationship between art and life, replacing previous theories of associating art with the tangible, such equally cultural and political agendas; with intangibilities, such as fine art in the form of aesthetic purposes and self-expression. This change attributed to the increase in significance placed on an individual's thought process and emotions. Adjusting the means people interact with art, focusing on what they got out of a piece rather than simply deciphering the artist's motive behind it.

The relationship between art and life is an archetype of cause and effect. Human being beings tend to view art every bit a reaction and insight into human nature. Using art equally a medium to voice out their opinions on current matters and showcasing the aftermath of internalizing specific news and knowledge –art imitating life. The reaction thereafter acts as a reference point on how the viewer has comprehended the work. In other words, the application of what they accept taken abroad put into reality–life imitating art.

So, the question is, does removing something from the context of its everyday environment dilute its initial purpose of creation or brand the product whatsoever less than it really is? In retrospect, the context of the presence does not override that of the by. It adds depth to the evolution of that specific 'something', highlighting the versatile yet ephemeral nature of art and life.

Annotation:

The Republic is a Socratic dialogue, written past Plato around 375 BC, concerning justice, the order and character of the merely metropolis-state, and the just human being.

Words and Photography: Gigi Soh, Storehouse Content Squad, @Thecheesychick

Set Design: Xiao Min, @girlinthemeadow_com