Here are some things to think about as you review your chosen art work:
· Does "good art" require special skill and training on the part of the artist? Can a child's immature sketch be considered "good art"? Can it be considered "great art?" Can someone who doesn't sing on key be considered a "good" or "great" artist?
· Does "good art" require special skill and training on the part of the audience? Can art which is very easy to understand and to assimilate be considered "good" or "great"?
· What other demands, if any, does "good art" make on its audience? In what ways should the audience participate in the work? Should the audience be responsible for actively questioning and thinking about the work? Or does good art let the audience relax, be passive?
· What general effect should art have on an audience? Does good art affect the audience physically? Emotionally? Intellectually? Spiritually? All of the above? None of the above?
· Does "good art" have broad appeal--or specialized appeal? Does the size of the approving audience determine the art's worth? Or does the intelligence and training of the approving audience determine the art's worth? (I.e., should the worth of art be measured by the number of people who like it? By the type of people who like it?))
· How long-lasting should the appeal of art be, if we are to consider it "good"? I.e., can "good art" have temporary appeal? Or is good art only art which has lasting appeal, which holds up to repeated viewings or listenings?
· Does good art fit into and extend a tradition, keeping us connected to our roots, or does it break with tradition and create something new? Does it promote the status quo--or subvert the status quo?
· Can art be immoral and still be "good art"?
According to your own definition and criteria, which of the items below (if any) describes the primary purpose of art?
To delight and entertain
To disturb or unsettle
To provoke critical thought and inquiry
To provoke good feelings
To provoke strong feelings, both good and bad
To show what reality is
To show what reality should be
To reveal or uncover new realities
To invent new realities
To immerse one in the moment
To immerse one in history
To make money
To inspire
To provide catharsis
To teach
To diagnose
To nourish spiritually
To stimulate physically
To promote the status quo
To alter the status quo
To intensify one's awareness of essential connectedness
To intensify one's awareness of essential isolation
To waste time and money
To help viewers escape the world
To help viewers confront the world
To give us people who call themselves artists and who get to wear any weird clothes they want
To be art
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