Preobražaj umetnosti i novi teorijski diskursi

Abstract

The author of this paper considers the connection between the transformation of art and the establishment of corresponding theoretical discourses. These discourses are observed side by side in the attempt to gain an insight into the adequacy and validity of the application of certain aesthetic principles with relation to the given artistic expression. The paper encompasses the period from the creation of modernist movements after World War I to the current postindustrial age ('the society of media and spectacle'), when art acquires its recognizable prefix 'post'. The author distinguishes and critically analyzes from a sociological-aesthetic standpoint three basic theoretical starting points: the starting point of the traditional (ontological) aesthetics, the aesthetics of the modern ('transaesthetics'), and the aesthetics of the postmodern (postaesthetics, 'postclassical aesthetics'). The representatives of the classical aesthetics (philosophers) mainly believe that the secret of art lies in the ontological sphere. They draw on the metaphysical components of art and insist on its universality, originality, and creative uniqueness, as well as traditional aesthetic values. In the aesthetics of the modern, the subject of art turns from the objective world towards itself; what is desired here is spontaneity and the freedom of expression, as well as following the principle which allows for a different perception and a large number of interpretations. That is why modern art deserves the tag avant-garde art. The era of this art is characterized by an outburst of numerous alternative artistic movements which bear a certain resemblance to the subcultural styles and subcultural practices. Finally, the aesthetics of the postmodern is the aesthetics of 'recognition', assumption and citation. Its basic postulate is eclecticism, and the intention of the protagonist of this movement is to give dignity back to the artistic project and position an idea within it. The purpose of the paper is to take a work of art from a certain period and observe and evaluate it sociologically on the basis of the patterns relevant to the given society, historical moment and aesthetic preferences.