HUM_YOT

Applied Humanities

Experience and Evidence You Don’t Have to Like It 4 Module Four: Examining the Humanities, continued / Page 4.2.2 You Don’t Have to Like It On this page: 0 of 1 attempted (0%) | 0 of 1 correct (0%) Objective: Identify some of the most important factors that contribute to making a work of art exceptional.

To kick off our discussion about what makes a work of art “great,” let’s listen to the first two and a half minutes of Tracy Chevalier’s TED Talk in which she describes “gallery fatigue.”

YouTube video clip (0:00–2:35). https://youtu.be/nCg2NcGYu34. Uploaded July 25, 2012, by TED. To activate captions, first click the play button and then click the CC

button in the embedded player. For a text transcript, follow the link below.

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Chevalier gives us permission to not like everything in the museum. If you’ve ever felt that not liking some celebrated work of art means there is something wrong with you, then this should come as a relief. No one likes it all.

Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the paintingTracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

Chevalier’s argument is yet another way of noticing that it’s not an individual’s personal beholding (and liking) that makes a work of art great. She implies we should each realize that out of all celebrated art, we will like only a subset. And, if I asked her, I think she’d agree that of all the things I like, only some of them count as great art.

This is a graphic of a Venn diagram. One circle is labeled “Great Art.” The other circle is labeled “Things I Like.” They overlap in the center.

Soomo Learning/Clint McFarlin

We’re accustomed to this tension in many areas. Let’s think back to Chevalier’s restaurant metaphor. You might hear about an Indian chef recognized for her spicy chicken vindaloo and, if you don’t like spicy food, be able to understand that her dish is great even though you’d rather not eat it. Despite being largely ignorant of hockey, I can appreciate that Wayne Gretzky was a great player. You don’t have to be a fan of Ronald Reagan or even of his policies to acknowledge that he was a great politician and communicator.

The same can be true of art. You can agree that the Mona Lisa is a masterpiece without wanting to spend any more time with it. Likewise, you can recognize the broad enduring genius of Shakespeare’s plays while still preferring to see Wicked (not by Shakespeare, but a popular musical nonetheless) rather than Othello (one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies).

Things you like and things that are considered great may intersect. But greatness is not determined by your personal preference. This is another way in which the interpretation of art is subjective and yet not entirely up to the individual. The

experience of art always happens at the level of one person, but the value of art is not determined solely by that encounter. Instead, it is established through discussion and writing among those who care most about a given work or body of works as they bring a broad array of critical analysis to bear on the work. It is far beyond the scope of this short essay to define what makes art great, but it’s worth noting a few reasons why some artifacts and creators are praised.

Influencers

The authors, composers, and visual artists with the biggest impact on those who follow are often celebrated.

Innovators

The first creators to break with tradition and point toward a new way of doing things are often celebrated. But not just any kind of different approach will do. Leading in a new direction that many later artists follow is what makes these works and creators notable.

Best in Category

Another group of celebrated artists are those who don’t open up new ground but rather bring a genre or art form to its full potential and deliver the definitive works for a given period, school, or approach. Consider Norman Rockwell. Surely there were other artists who illustrated in a similar style, but they’re nowhere near as well known.

Craft

Some artists are masters of their craft, and some works attain a level of perfection that is rarely seen. These, too, are often celebrated.

Sum of Parts

All artistic works consist of parts or elements that are in relationship to one another and are working toward a whole. But a work of art that shows a remarkable weaving together of various components stands apart and is often widely praised. In such a work, every piece seems inevitable and perfectly suited for playing its role in the overall work.

Layers, Density, and Coherence

Some works hold up better than others to persistent, thoughtful analysis. These works reward attention to detail, tend to have a stronger coherence among many parts working together, and delight viewers, readers, or listeners when considered from multiple perspectives.

The Bible is an example of a work with many layers, making it meaningful during a first read but enabling a lifelong scholar to still find new insights and relationships after decades of careful reading.

Multiple-Choice Question

Which of these arguments uses one of the reasons above to argue for the greatness of the film Star Trek (2009)?

Chris Pine’s interpretation of James T. Kirk miraculously surpassed William Shatner’s, making this one of the best reboots in cinema history. Characters, costumes, and script aside, it was the soundtrack that elevated Star Trek to the level of one of the best science-fiction movies of the 21st century. This film was my introduction to the Star Trek franchise and thus will always be special to me. There was very little in Star Trek that was new, but this film exhibits unusual mastery of both the genre and the franchise, making it one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade.

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