Abstract
In his article, "About Art," Baruch Blich investigates why is art -- and especially modern art -- so difficult to understand? Why do art objects raise questions as to their status? Why scrutinizing art involves semiotics, philosophy of language, linguistics, epistemology, ontology, and even metaphysics? Why art is interpreted by psychoanalysis as well as by behaviorism and psychology of perception? What anthropology and sociology have to do with art and why do we witness art debated in the courtroom concerning copyright issues? In short -- what makes art a crossroad for many and sometimes conflicting disciplines? Is there something in art which compels us to tune our commonsense reactions differently? The answer to these queries, and many others, can be squeezed into one word -- "aboutness": art's reference to reality is constituted on conventions far out from the commonly accepted rules of thumb. The purpose of the paper is, therefore, to shed light on the use of mimesis, representation, depiction, and by the same token explicate why their use in the context of art bear special and unique meanings.
Recommended Citation
Blich, Baruch.
"About Art."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
3.3
(2001):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1110>
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