What Is Artistic Creativity?

Introduction

In order to answer the question вЂ" what is artistic creativity? вЂ" I find it significant to define the words art, creative and creative art. The meaning of a concept of art has changed dramatically over the past century. Traditionally the term was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romanic period, when art became to be seen as “a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science” (Gombrich 2005). Today, however, the term has become more complicated and problematic. One could argue that anything can be art. Duchamp displayed a men’s urinal in the art exhibition, and that became one of the most famous, as well as controversial pieces of art works in the world. Italian artist Piero Manzoni put his own excrement in a can вЂ" and surprisingly that was accepted as art. Tracey Emin displayed her own unmade bed in an art gallery… Yves Klein, one of the forerunners of conceptual art, once held an exhibition in Paris consisting of an entirely empty gallery. So space can be art. Some theorists argue that even crime can be art, as they are intimately linked with both being protests against social norms (Carey 2005:4-6).

In my essay I am going to argue through the example of Duchamp’s Fountain, what could be considered as artistic creativity. I am also going to look at some theories by philosophers and critics such as Immanuel Kant and Arthur C. Danto.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential figures in Western philosophy, believes in absolute and universal beauty вЂ" that some things/objects simply are beautiful, irrespective of the viewer. For Kantians, the question вЂ?What is a work of art?’ makes sense and is answerable. “Works of art belong to a separate category of things, recognized and attested by certain highly gifted individuals who view them in a state of pure contemplation, and their status as works of art is absolute, universal and eternal.” (Carey 2005:14). This belief leads to the supposition that all true works of art must have something in common, that distinguishes them from things that are not works of art (Carey 2005:14).

For Danto, on the other hand, the exhibition of Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box sculptures in 1964 marked a watershed in the history of aesthetics. As he saw it, it вЂ?rendered almost worthless everything written by philosophers on art’. Andy Warhol’s вЂ?pop art’ showed that object’s status as a work of art does not depend on how it looks, or on any physical qualities whatsoever. Danto concludes that absolutely anything can be work of art вЂ" art is merely what is thought to be a work of art (Carey 2005: 16-19). However, people who think of an object as a work of art “must belong to the вЂ?art-world’. That is, they must be experts and critics with understanding of modern art. Only an opinion of such people can turn an object into a work of art, and they are qualified to do this because they can understand its meaning. For Danto works of art are distinguished by having a meaning, and not just any meaning, but a particular meaning. This correct meaning is the one that artist intended.” (Carey 2005:18-19). However, Danto’s point is losing its strength as no one apart from the вЂ?art-world’, believes that anymore. The art-world has lost its credibility. For Carey (2005:29) a work of art is “anything that has ever considered a work of art, though it maybe the work of art only for that one person.” From my point of view, Carey’s statement is even weaker than Danto’s. According to him, absolutely anything can be a work of art, whereas Danto’s view requires some sort of professional criticism.

So far I have drawn a connection between вЂ?art’ and вЂ?creative’. However, if anything can be art, can anything be creative too? When art is made, it means it has been created. Therefore art has to include some creativity. Hereby it would be necessary to draw a line between art (that could be anything) and creative art. According to Novitz (1992, in Wikipedia 2008) creative art means that a skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities. However, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people would consider it a craft instead of art. I remember my literature teacher saying long time ago (about creativity) that if one wants to exceed the limits, one has to learn to work inside the limits first. Making it clearer вЂ" if I wanted to display my unmade bed or Coca-Cola cans as art, I would have to learn art (traditional art/painting) first (I would have to belong to the вЂ?art-world’).

One of the best examples to argue about the artistic creativity would be Duchamp’s Fountain that rocked the art world in 1917, when it was refused entry to an art show priding itself as being open to all. Rotated and signed with the pseudonym “R. Mutt 1917” on its upper side, it is not merely one of Duchamp’s ready-mades. It has become a recognizable icon in the history of modern art. In addition to the questions of decency and social norms, how could such piece of work be considered as creative? It could be seen as plagiarism, a plain piece of plumbing. “Whether Mr. Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view вЂ" created a new thought for that object (Art of the 20th century 2006:389, Ramirez 1998:54). This succinct statement is a brilliant rejoinder to the critics of Mutt and the Fountain. The object itself is neither vulgar nor immoral. By implication, neither is the act of presenting it in public, since bathroom fixtures вЂ" including men’s urinals were displayed to the public in plumbing shops whose owners were not charged with immoral practices. According to Camfield (1989:38-39) the Fountain is neither a plagiarism, that is, an object lacking any original contribution by the artist. The editors underscored the creative act of selection. The artist “CHOSE it” вЂ" and in this respect it is significant to stress that our visual knowledge of Fountain depends upon photography, an art form created by artists who do not make