03-29-13
Philosophy of Art
Dr. Donald Casey
“Of the Standard of Taste.” Hume says that the artist has to relate to the audience when creating the work of art. If he does not, he is being prejudiced. In a stage, the singer has to not only sing for himself but for the audience. When that happens, the audience receives conviction; the artist has to be convicted first in order to show conviction. If the artist does not receive applause, then the audience did not feel what the artist was trying to convey. Even if the artist receives applauses with little thunder, then the artist has still not yet done his job: sharing with the audience the journey he went through into creating the work of art. An artist has to show compassion for the audience when performing or presenting an artwork. With no compassion, there is no transparency, which results in no conviction. Hume makes another point: every individual has a different way of thinking. One can think of a piece as a deformity, another can think of it as beauty, and another can think it as a God-given message to him in his time of need. He says this because he realizes that many artists want to please everyone but tells them to just focus on making a pure work of art. Pure, in this context, means without prejudice or malice. This author even goes farther to say that a pure work will break all prejudice and God is in the midst of it. If I want to be an artist, then this is the right chapter to read? This