Toward an Ontology of Art Works

Abstract

In several of the arts there is application for the distinction between a performance of something and that which is performed. In music, for example, one can distinguish between a performance of Verklaerte Nacht and that which is thereby performed, namely, Arnold Schoenberg's work Verklaerte Nacht. Similarly, in dance one can distinguish between a performance of Swan Lake and that which is thereby performed, namely, the ballet Swan Lake. Some people will be skeptical as to whether, in the cases cited and others of the same sort, we really do have two distinct entities-a performance and that which is performed. But assuming it to be true that the concept of a performance of something and the concept of something performed both have application to the arts, there are two sorts of considerations which force one to the conclusion that that which is performed on a given occasion is distinct from the performance of it. In the first place, a thing performed and a performance thereof will always diverge in certain of their properties. For example, having been composed by Schoenberg is a property of Verklaerte Nacht but not of any performance of Verklaerte Nacht. On the other hand, taking place at a certain time and place is a property of every performance of Verklaerte Nacht but not of Verklaerte Nacht itself. It is worth noting that a work performed may diverge from performances thereof not only in 'ontological' properties but also in 'aesthetic' properties. For example, it may be that having the voice part begin on A