Composition: Do you agree with the statement: The purpose of art is to give pleasure? Essays on the Russian language and literature Specific function

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11. Specific function - hedonistic (art as pleasure)

Art gives people pleasure and creates an eye that can enjoy the beauty of colors and shapes, an ear that captures the harmony of sounds. The hedonistic function (the second essential function), like the aesthetic one, permeates all other functions of art. Even the ancient Greeks noted the special, spiritual nature of aesthetic pleasure and distinguished it from carnal pleasures.

Prerequisites for the hedonistic function of art (sources of enjoyment artwork):

1) the artist freely (= masterfully) owns the material of life and the means of its artistic development; art is a sphere of freedom, mastery of the aesthetic wealth of the world; freedom (= skill) is admirable and delightful;

2) the artist correlates all mastered phenomena with humanity, revealing their aesthetic value;

3) in the work, the harmonic unity of the perfect art form and content, artistic creativity gives people the joy of comprehending artistic truth and beauty;

4) artistic reality is ordered and built according to the laws of beauty;

5) the recipient feels an attachment to the impulses of inspiration, to the poet's work (the joy of co-creation); 6) in artistic creativity there is a game aspect (art models human activity in a game form); the play of free forces is yet another manifestation of freedom in art, which brings extraordinary joy.

"The mood of the game is detachment and inspiration - sacred or simply festive, depending on whether the game is enlightenment or fun. The action itself is accompanied by feelings of uplift and tension and brings with it joy and relaxation. All methods of poetic formation belong to the sphere of the game: metric and rhythmic the subdivision of spoken or sung speech, the precise use of rhyme and assonance, the masking of meaning, the skilful construction of a phrase, and he who, following Paul Valéry, calls poetry a game, a game in which words and speech are played, does not resort to metaphor, but grasps the deepest meaning of the the words "poetry"" (Hizinga, 1991, p. 80).

The hedonistic function of art is based on the idea of the inherent value of the individual. Art gives a person the disinterested joy of aesthetic pleasure. It is the self-valuable personality that is ultimately the most socially effective. In other words, the self-worth of a person is an essential aspect of its deep socialization, a factor of its creative activity.

The author of this statement believes that art is created for pleasure. Its main task is to generate positive emotions, feelings of satisfaction in people. It raises the problem of the hedonistic function of art, as the most important in human life.

K2 Theoretical argument #1

It is difficult for me to agree with S. Maugham's point of view.

After all, what is art?

And why did it appear?

From the course of social science, I know that art is a practical human activity aimed at mastering and creating aesthetic values. In society, there are different views on art. Some argue that art is only an imitation of nature, while others are sure that it serves the creative self-expression of the individual. The emergence of art is directly related to the performance of many diverse functions in society. The functions of art are: socially transforming, educational, aesthetic, etc.

Among them there is a hedonistic function. She is responsible for giving pleasure.

mini-total

In other words, art brings pleasure to people, but it is only one of the functions of art.

K3 Fact#1

For example, in the famous essay "On the Norm of Taste" D. Hume seeks to prove that the most important point is its "pleasure" or the pleasure that we get from it. But this pleasure belongs to our feelings, and not to the essence of art itself, because. getting pleasure will depend on the tastes of the viewer.

Thus, I can conclude that the opinion of the author is subjective. Indeed, for some, art is a way of consolation, for others, educational activity, and for some, pleasure.

Updated: 2018-02-19

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Art is the suggestion of a certain system of thoughts and feelings, an almost hypnotic effect on the subconscious and on the entire human psyche. Often the work is literally mesmerizing. Suggestion (inspiring influence) was already inherent in primitive art. The Australian tribes on the night before the battle caused a surge of courage in themselves with songs and dances. The ancient Greek legend tells: the Spartans, exhausted by a long war, turned to the Athenians for help, they sent the lame and frail musician Tyrtaeus instead of reinforcements as a mockery. However, it turned out that this was the most effective help: Tirteus raised the morale of the Spartans with his songs, and they defeated the enemies.

Making sense of experience artistic culture of his country, the Indian researcher K.K. Pandey argues that suggestion always dominates in art. The main effect of folklore charms, spells, laments is suggestion.

Gothic temple architecture inspires the viewer with awe of divine majesty.

The inspiring role of art is clearly manifested in marches designed to instill courage in the marching columns of fighters. In the "hour of courage" (Akhmatova) in the life of the people, the inspiring function of art takes on a particularly important role. So it was during the Great Patriotic War. One of the first foreign performers of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, Koussevitzky, remarked: "Since the time of Beethoven, there has not yet been a composer who could speak to the masses with such force of suggestion." The setting for inspiring influence is also inherent in the lyrics of this period. Such, for example, is Simonov's popular poem "Wait for me":

Wait for me and I will come back,

Just wait a lot.

Wait for sadness

yellow rain,

Wait for the snow to come

Wait when it's hot

Wait when others are not expected

Forgetting yesterday.

Wait when from distant places

Letters will not come

Wait until you get bored

To all who are waiting together.

In twelve lines, the word "wait" is repeated eight times like a spell. All the semantic meaning of this repetition, all its inspiring magic are formulated in the final of the poem:

Do not understand those who did not wait for them,

Like in the middle of a fire

Waiting for your

You saved me

(Simonov. 1979, p. 158).

It expresses a poetic thought that is important for millions of people separated by the war. The soldiers sent these poems home or carried them near their hearts in the pocket of their tunic. When Simonov expressed the same thought in a film script, the result was a mediocre work: it sounded the same actual topic, but the magic of suggestion was lost.

I remember how Ehrenburg, in a conversation with students of the Literary Institute in 1945, expressed the opinion that the essence of poetry is in a spell. This, of course, is a narrowing of the possibilities of poetry. However, this is a characteristic delusion, dictated by an accurate sense of the trend in the development of military poetry, which strove for immediate effective intervention in the spiritual life and therefore relied on folklore forms developed by the centuries-old artistic experience of the people, such as orders, vows, visions, dreams, conversations with the dead, appeals to rivers, cities. Vocabulary of spells, vows, blessings, anachronisms of ritual turns of speech are heard in the military verses of Tychina, Dolmatovsky, Isakovsky, Surkov. Thus, in a poetic style, the folk, domestic character of the war against the invaders was manifested.

Suggestion is a function of art that is close to educational, but does not coincide with it: education is a long process, suggestion is a one-time process. The suggestive function in tense periods of history plays a large, sometimes even leading role in the general system of the functions of art.

10. Specific function - aesthetic

(art as the formation of a creative spirit and value orientations)

So far, we have been talking about the functions of art, which "duplicated" artistic means what other spheres of human activity do in their own way (science, philosophy, futurology, pedagogy, mass media, hypnosis). Now we will talk about completely specific functions inherent only in art - aesthetic and hedonistic.

Even in antiquity, the importance of the aesthetic function of art was recognized. The Indian poet Kalidasa (approximately the 5th century) singled out four goals of art: to arouse the admiration of the gods; create images of the world and man; deliver high pleasure with the help of aesthetic feelings (rasas): comedy, love, compassion, fear, horror; serve as a source of pleasure, joy, happiness and beauty. The Indian scientist V. Bahadur believes that the purpose of art is to inspire, purify and ennoble a person, for this it must be beautiful (Bahadur. 1956, p. 17).

The aesthetic function is an irreplaceable specific ability of art:

1) to form artistic tastes, abilities and human needs. Before the artistically civilized consciousness, the world appears as aesthetically significant in each of its manifestations. Nature itself appears in the eyes of the poet as an aesthetic value, the universe acquires poetry, becomes a theatrical stage, a gallery, an artistic creation non finita (unfinished). Art gives people this sense of the aesthetic significance of the world;

2) value orientation of a person in the world (to build a value consciousness, teach to see life through the prism of imagery). Without value orientations, a person is even worse than without vision - he can neither understand how to relate to something, nor determine the priorities of activity, nor build a hierarchy of the phenomena of the world around him;

3) awaken the creative spirit of the individual, the desire and ability to create according to the laws of beauty. Art awakens the artist in a person. It is not at all about awakening addiction to amateur performances, but about human activity, consistent with the internal measure of each object, that is, about the development of the world according to the laws of beauty. Making even purely utilitarian objects (a table, a chandelier, a car), a person cares about the benefits, convenience, and beauty. According to the laws of beauty, everything that a person produces is created. And he needs a sense of beauty.

Einstein noted the importance of art for spiritual life, and for the very process of scientific creativity. “Personally, works of art give me a feeling of supreme happiness. I draw such spiritual bliss from them, as in no other field ... If you ask who is of the greatest interest to me now, then I will answer: Dostoevsky! .. Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientific thinker, more than Gauss! » (See: Moshkovsky, 1922, p. 162).

To awaken an artist in a person who wants and knows how to create according to the laws of beauty - this goal of art will increase with the development of society.

The aesthetic function of art (the first essential function) ensures the socialization of the individual, forms his creative activity; pervades all other functions of art.

11. Specific function - hedonic

(art as pleasure)

Prerequisites for the hedonistic function of art (sources of enjoyment of a work of art): 1) the artist freely (= masterfully) owns the material of life and the means of its artistic development; art is a sphere of freedom, mastery of the aesthetic wealth of the world; freedom (= skill) is admirable and delightful; 2) the artist correlates all mastered phenomena with humanity, revealing their aesthetic value; 3) in a work, the harmonious unity of a perfect artistic form and content, artistic creativity gives people the joy of comprehending artistic truth and beauty; 4) artistic reality is ordered and built according to the laws of beauty; 5) the recipient feels an attachment to the impulses of inspiration, to the poet's work (the joy of co-creation); 6) there is a game aspect in artistic creativity (art models human activity in a game form); the play of free forces is yet another manifestation of freedom in art, which brings extraordinary joy. “The mood of the game is detachment and enthusiasm - sacred or simply festive, depending on whether the game is enlightenment or fun. The action itself is accompanied by feelings of uplift and tension and brings with it joy and relaxation. The sphere of play includes all methods of poetic formation: the metrical and rhythmic subdivision of spoken or sung speech, the exact use of rhyme and assonance, the masking of meaning, the skillful construction of a phrase. And the one who, following Paul Valery, calls poetry a game, a game in which words and speech are played, does not resort to metaphor, but grasps the deepest meaning of the very word “poetry” ”(Hizinga. 1991, p. 80).

Very often, turning to some work of art, we involuntarily ask ourselves the question: why? Why was this book written? What did the artist want to say with this painting? Why did this particular piece of music affect us so strongly?

What is the purpose of creating a work of art? It is known that no other animal species, except for Homo sapiens, can be the creator of art. After all, art goes beyond merely useful, it satisfies other, higher human needs.
Of course, there is no one reason for creating various works art - there are many reasons, as many interpretations.
According to the purpose of creating works of art can be divided into motivated and unmotivated.

Unmotivated Goals

You can often hear: “The soul sings!”, “The words themselves are torn out!” and similar statements. What does this mean?
This means that the person has the need to express oneself, one's feelings and thoughts. There are many ways to express. Have you ever seen inscriptions on a tree (bench, wall) with something like this: “Vanya was here” or “Seryozha + Tanya”? Of course we saw! The man so wanted to express his feelings! You can, of course, express these same feelings in another way, for example, like this:

I remember a wonderful moment:

You appeared before me...

But... By the way, that is why children should be introduced to art from a very early age, so that their ways of self-expression would subsequently be more diverse.
Fortunately, there are people with a rich imagination and a deep inner world who can express their feelings and thoughts in such a way that they will captivate other people, and not only captivate, but sometimes make them reconsider their own inner world and your settings. Such works of art can be created by people in whose souls there is instinctively harmony, a sense of rhythm, which is akin to nature. Albert Einstein believed that the purpose of art is desire for mystery, the ability to feel one's connection with the Universe: “The most beautiful thing that we can experience in life is mystery. It is the source of all true art or science." Well, it is also impossible to disagree with this.

Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda")

And an example of this is the "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda") by Leonardo da Vinci, whose mysterious smile cannot be unraveled to this day. “Soon it’s four centuries since the Mona Lisa deprives everyone who, having seen enough of it, begins to talk about it,” he said with a bit of bitter irony at the end of the 19th century. Gruye.

Imagination, inherent in man, is also an unmotivated function of art. What does this mean? It is not always possible to put into words what you feel. The Russian poet F. Tyutchev spoke well about this:

How can the heart express itself?
How can someone else understand you?
Will he understand how you live?
Thought spoken is a lie.
(F.I. Tyutchev "Silentium!")

There is another function of art, which is at the same time its goal: opportunity to reach out to the whole world. After all, what is created (music, sculpture, poetry, etc.) is given to people.

Motivated Goals

Everything is clear here: the work is created with a predetermined purpose. The goal may be different, for example, pay attention to some phenomenon in society. It was for this purpose that the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Resurrection".

L.N. Tolstoy

Sometimes an artist creates his work asillustrations for a work by another author. And if he does it very well, then a new, unique work of a different kind of art appears. An example is the musical illustrations by G.V. Sviridov to the story by A.S. Pushkin "Snowstorm".

G.V. Sviridov
Works of art can be created and for fun: such as cartoons. Although, of course, good cartoon not only entertains, but certainly conveys some useful emotions or thoughts to the audience.
At the beginning of the XX century. many unusual works were created, which were called avant-garde art. There are several directions in it (dadaism, surrealism, constructivism, etc.), which we will talk about in more detail in the future. So the goal of avant-garde art was provoking political change, this art is assertive, uncompromising. Remember the poems of V. Mayakovsky.
It turns out that the purpose of art can even be human recovery. In any case, this is the opinion of psychotherapists who use music for relaxation, color and paint - to influence the mental state of a person. After all, it is not for nothing that they say that a word can kill, but it can also save.

There are words - like wounds, words - like a court, -
They do not surrender with them and do not take prisoners.
Words can kill, words can save
In a word, you can lead the shelves behind you.
In a word, you can sell, and betray, and buy,
The word can be poured into smashing lead.
(V. Shefner "Words")

There is even art for social protest- this is the so-called street art, the most famous variety of which is graffiti art.

The main thing in street art is to engage the viewer in a dialogue and show your program of seeing the world, thinking. But here you need to be very careful: graffiti can be illegal and a form of vandalism if applied without permission to buses, trains, house walls, bridges and other conspicuous places.

And finally advertising. Can it be considered art? To some extent, yes, because although it is created to promote a commercial product by creating a positive attitude towards it, it can be performed at a high artistic level.
All the functions of art we have named can exist (and do exist) in interaction, i.e. you can, for example, entertain and at the same time covertly advertise something.
It should be noted that, unfortunately, one of characteristic features art of the postmodern era (after the 1970s) is the growth of utilitarianism, focus on commercialization, and unmotivated art becomes the lot of the elite. Why "Unfortunately"? Try to answer this question yourself.
By the way, let's talk about art for the elite. Now this expression has somewhat changed its meaning. Previously, the “chosen ones” were considered to be upper-class people, rich, able to buy beautiful and sometimes useless things, prone to luxury. It was for such people that the Palace of Versailles or the Hermitage in St. Petersburg were built, with their extensive collections collected by the richest monarchs of Europe. Such collections can only be afforded by very wealthy individuals, governments or organizations. But, to the credit of many of these people, they then transferred the collections they collected to the state.

I. Kramskoy "Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov"

Here we cannot but recall the Russian merchantPavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, founder of the State Tretyakov Gallery, or president of the regional railway networkJohn Taylor Johnston, whose personal art collection formed the basis of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). At that time, artists sought to ensure that access to works of art was open to everyone: for people of any social status and for children. Now it has become possible, but right now the masses have not really needed art or need only utilitarian art. In this case, the "chosen ones" are already people who are interested in unmotivated art, which satisfies, as we said earlier, the highest human needs - the needs of the soul, heart and mind.

Art as a source of pleasure

“The essence of any art is giving pleasure.

have fun" (Mikhail Baryshnikov)

Often, works of art are born either due to strong inner feelings of the artist, or, as a result, some turning point in the life of the creator. Tolstoy (1828-1910) believed that painting makes viewers experience the emotions inherent in the artist, but for this the artist must experience these emotions and correctly embody them in the picture.

But painting is the result of not only emotions and creative inspiration. The picture arises due to the interaction of many factors - the artist with his materials, personal experience, works of art, viewers.

Art is a dialogue in which the painting must earn its right to exist in the cultural life of society.

Man is a social being. Human history shows that humans have always wanted to share their thoughts and feelings with other beings. Painting is one of the most ancient forms of art known to man. The forms of art have changed over the millennia, but it is still the most popular means of communication.

In every corner of the globe there are various forms of art: on documents, dishes (glass, porcelain), clothes, etc. Even wall art - graffiti, is considered as such, since it is also designed to convey thoughts and feelings. However, painting is the most popular form of art known. It is believed that it was invented in Afghanistan, and later, during the Renaissance, it was distributed among artists. During this period, artists depicted struggle, emotional experiences and secret desires on the canvas.

Over the centuries, the "picture" has changed its form, in this period it is known to all " modern painting”- a work of art that we see hanging on the wall at home, in the office, in our favorite restaurant, and of course in the art gallery.

Studies have shown that painting gives the same pleasure as falling in love. The project was led by Professor Samir Zeki, who works in the Department of Neuroaesthetics at University College London. He claims that they were guided by the desire to know what feelings a person experiences when looking at a beautiful picture.

“There is a connection between the artist and the viewer, thanks to which the latter can feel part of the pleasure received from painting and the joy of the creative process. Only color can become such a connection. But there is something that only another person can see and feel. Something very important. It `s Magic. ( Sara Genn )»

The experiment involved several dozen people, selected at random, with elementary knowledge in the field of art. Thus, the participants were able to have an open mind about the paintings, without experiencing personal sympathy for the artists.

“We found that whether you are looking at a landscape, a still life, an abstraction, or a portrait, there is a strong activity in the part of the brain that is responsible for pleasure,” says Professor Samir Zeki.

During the experiment, people were in the scanner (MRI), every 10 seconds they were shown a series of pictures. After that, the pressure in one of the parts of the brain was measured.

The reaction was immediate. It turns out that the pressure rises, in accordance with how much a person likes the picture.

According to the study, admiring a beautiful picture, the pressure rises in the same way as when you look at your loved one.

Thus, art stimulates the part of the brain that is responsible for pleasure.

Previous research has shown that painting can reduce pain and speed up recovery.

Thus, scientists have received scientific evidence that people feel better thanks to art.

Fortunately, painting can give pleasure not only to the audience.

"Draw pleasure, write pleasure,

express pleasure" Pierre Bonnard )

Only an artist can understand what a pleasure it is to draw. No need to interact with the outside world, there is only you and nature. The feeling of happiness comes already when you just sit down at the easel. As soon as you take a pencil or a brush in your hand, a shiver runs through your body from the anticipation of the upcoming communication with nature. No experiences disturb the creative process: no need to refute ridiculous arguments, fight enemies, strain. No pretense, no game, no attempts to turn black into white or vice versa. With the naivety of a child and the devotion of a true enthusiast, you place yourself in the hands of a greater force - Nature ... joyfully studying her conditions and becoming acquainted with her uniqueness with delight. The mind is calm and at the same time full of energy. Hands and eyes are busy with work. Making a general sketch of the future picture, you, every moment, learn something new, experiment, learn, develop. In an inconspicuous plant or stump you find true beauty, and with genuine pleasure pounce on work. Captured by enthusiasm, as if by chance, you make small mistakes, so that later you can correct them with a light stroke or a quick stroke. Time passes imperceptibly, without a drop of fatigue or regret, and you would not want to spend it otherwise.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, what would humanity be like without art, what would a person deprived of the ability to create and create, what kind of world would we live in ...

Self-expression is one of the human needs, without which a full life is not possible.

Live, create, create, enjoy, catch every moment, love every day, and be happy!

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