Identifying Art

CEBU, Philippines - Many people find it quite a challenge identifying true art from what is not. Art experts try to make the task easy. They have devised qualifiers that a certain "work" shall be viewed through, in order to determine its artistic value.

The following is one example - The Four-Step Approach. In this approach, personal preference matters more than anything, along with an understanding that the qualifiers (phrased in questions) are subject to personal interpretations; that they are not hard variables that need measuring up to in order for the work to make sense. In the end, the steps are only to help the person make his own judgment of a "work."

1. Was the work made with a significant amount of creative technique? In weighing the artistic quality of a work, asking this question is important. But "technique" may still be subject personal interpretations or misinterpretations such that coming up with a standard answer can be challenging.

An understanding of the basics of parallel rendering, linear shading and light-and-dark contrast will help if determine the technique implemented in the making of painting, drawing or installation piece.

But the simplest way of telling if a significant amount of creative technique is used in an artwork is in appraising its overall visual appeal. Much better if the details of the work are also further considered.

2. Does the work record a moment in time? - Strictly speaking, time is actually a crucial component in most creative fields - but most particularly in music, cinema or performance arts. These art forms require the passing of time for their values to be appreciated. But there is also the non-temporal art which can stand on its own even without allowance of time. The examples of these are paintings, illustrations, sculptures and the like.

By determining how a work records a moment in time (which, again, can be interpreted in various ways), one gets to judge whether a work is a temporal or a non-temporal art - or if it is neither.

3. Is the work infused with the "voice" or "diction" of its artist? - There's a saying: "There's no such thing as art, only artists." Simply put, a semblance of an artist's persona - perhaps his unique way of painting ears on people or the way he depicts themes and elements of thematic contrast - which finds its way to a work qualifies that work as art. The feature functions as the artist's trademark or signature style.

4. Does the work - all in all - elicit an emotion or reaction from you? This is ultimately the make-or-break qualifier that'll really help in determining whether a particular work is art or not. Why? Because the elicited feeling is a practical barometer of the power of a work - because art is not simply about decorative potential, but about its capacity to establish a relationship with its audience.

In short, a person is equipped with instinctive ways to identify art - whether by intellect or by emotion. But with training one becomes more sensitive to art that he will begin to see it even in the most common things that surround him. And, in the end, art - like beauty - "is in the eye of the beholder." (FREEMAN)