Continued from Part 1/3: Artworks Are Non-Deterministic Attractors in Imagination Space.
During the creative process, how does one know if they have arrived close enough to creating an Artwork (after many iterations)? The solution is trivial and in agreement with what an artist instinctively does: one must apply their Taste to transform the object, until an application results in no further improvement. In other words, Taste produces the same object after any new iteration. This is also a sign that Artworks are indeed fixed points of an artist's Taste.
Individual observers may test if something is a good candidate for being an Artwork, by applying their own Taste to it, and if their Taste is universal enough (close enough to some ultimate Taste, possibly that of God) and the artist's is universal enough as well, then they should arrive at the creating artist's conclusion, that the piece indeed cannot be improved (within its own theme and context). Note that there must likely exist an ultimate High Taste, as also conjectured in my essay A Definition of Art.
Let's discuss our new definition and the above in practice, regarding Human visual artworks. When someone looks at an object, say a piece of stone, they may see certain parts which seem out of place by their Taste, so they wish to "fix" it by chiseling that part. When they again look at the stone (evaluate it with their Taste), they may find another part to correct, and so on. Someone with a very refined Taste (an Artist) would likely continue on for many-many iterations, to "perfect" the stone to their liking (Taste). The iterations may follow one another in the split of a second, making the process look continuous. When a painter paints, s/he is able to bring new creative elements in and modify the existing ones (by their impulses of Taste). Thus iteration by iteration they get closer and closer to a fixed point, or Artwork, which theoretically is impossible to improve, thus they reach a fixed point (an attractor).
Note that the iterations may start before the physical object is created/transformed in reality, since the Artist may create in advance, or in "imagination", before actually acting on their creative impulses. The creative act is usually the result of a mysterious "inspiration". Imagining in advance, may serve the purpose of coming up with alternative results over some iterations, projecting creation into the future, and picking and taking the most desirable route.
From the definition, it also follows that it is impossible in practice to create an Artwork, since an infinite number of iterations are necessary to reach one. We can only go down the infinite sequence of iterations to a very large number, and if one's impulses are "acute" enough, the process should be efficient and practical enough to arrive at a near-Artwork.
Note that in this definition "Artwork" is analgous to "true Artwork", and "near-Artwork" to "high Artwork", as defined in my previous essay. "Low Artwork" would correspond to a low iteration number, thus an object not sufficiently refined by the iterations of Taste impulses.
My definition is again in full agreement with Michelangelo, who said:
The above also sheds light on certain aspects of visual creation. One is that artists tend to create from sketchy to refined forms, the refining taking place in smaller and smaller regions - just as IFS fractals appear (which are also attractors in 2D space, not Imagination space). It also shows why imagination in its freest form contains so many spirals, since they are basic fractals/attractors themselves. Impulses creating IFS fractals are simple mathematical mappings, which in words state: "rotating, transposing, and contracting an object will make them 'look better'", and two or more impulses create an IFS fractal.
An Artwork will become energetic in composition, due to the increased Taste for motion, resulting at the extreme in visual elements flowing turbulently at high Reynolds numbers. The theme of an Artwork may heavily influence the impulses in creating an Artwork, thus turbulence may not always be desirable, while in certain other cases it may well-serve to increase visual value as described in the Energy Art Movement Manifesto.
Continued in Part 3/3: Postscript to my Definition Attempts for Art.
During the creative process, how does one know if they have arrived close enough to creating an Artwork (after many iterations)? The solution is trivial and in agreement with what an artist instinctively does: one must apply their Taste to transform the object, until an application results in no further improvement. In other words, Taste produces the same object after any new iteration. This is also a sign that Artworks are indeed fixed points of an artist's Taste.
Individual observers may test if something is a good candidate for being an Artwork, by applying their own Taste to it, and if their Taste is universal enough (close enough to some ultimate Taste, possibly that of God) and the artist's is universal enough as well, then they should arrive at the creating artist's conclusion, that the piece indeed cannot be improved (within its own theme and context). Note that there must likely exist an ultimate High Taste, as also conjectured in my essay A Definition of Art.
Let's discuss our new definition and the above in practice, regarding Human visual artworks. When someone looks at an object, say a piece of stone, they may see certain parts which seem out of place by their Taste, so they wish to "fix" it by chiseling that part. When they again look at the stone (evaluate it with their Taste), they may find another part to correct, and so on. Someone with a very refined Taste (an Artist) would likely continue on for many-many iterations, to "perfect" the stone to their liking (Taste). The iterations may follow one another in the split of a second, making the process look continuous. When a painter paints, s/he is able to bring new creative elements in and modify the existing ones (by their impulses of Taste). Thus iteration by iteration they get closer and closer to a fixed point, or Artwork, which theoretically is impossible to improve, thus they reach a fixed point (an attractor).
Note that the iterations may start before the physical object is created/transformed in reality, since the Artist may create in advance, or in "imagination", before actually acting on their creative impulses. The creative act is usually the result of a mysterious "inspiration". Imagining in advance, may serve the purpose of coming up with alternative results over some iterations, projecting creation into the future, and picking and taking the most desirable route.
From the definition, it also follows that it is impossible in practice to create an Artwork, since an infinite number of iterations are necessary to reach one. We can only go down the infinite sequence of iterations to a very large number, and if one's impulses are "acute" enough, the process should be efficient and practical enough to arrive at a near-Artwork.
Note that in this definition "Artwork" is analgous to "true Artwork", and "near-Artwork" to "high Artwork", as defined in my previous essay. "Low Artwork" would correspond to a low iteration number, thus an object not sufficiently refined by the iterations of Taste impulses.
My definition is again in full agreement with Michelangelo, who said:
"The true work of Art, is but a shadow of the Divine Perfection."
For we may only reach a finite number of iterations (a shadow), from the infinite number necessary to create an Artwork (divine perfection). So "visual value" or the quality of an artwork, is really just the level of refinement due to the number of iterations carried out by the Artist according to their Taste.The above also sheds light on certain aspects of visual creation. One is that artists tend to create from sketchy to refined forms, the refining taking place in smaller and smaller regions - just as IFS fractals appear (which are also attractors in 2D space, not Imagination space). It also shows why imagination in its freest form contains so many spirals, since they are basic fractals/attractors themselves. Impulses creating IFS fractals are simple mathematical mappings, which in words state: "rotating, transposing, and contracting an object will make them 'look better'", and two or more impulses create an IFS fractal.
An Artwork will become energetic in composition, due to the increased Taste for motion, resulting at the extreme in visual elements flowing turbulently at high Reynolds numbers. The theme of an Artwork may heavily influence the impulses in creating an Artwork, thus turbulence may not always be desirable, while in certain other cases it may well-serve to increase visual value as described in the Energy Art Movement Manifesto.
Continued in Part 3/3: Postscript to my Definition Attempts for Art.
