Works Of Art
Leonardo da Vinci defines art as reaching knowledge (Cummings, 2008:17).
As a kind of knowledge, art is a mirror that reflects reality. Art is also an activity with exploratory and creative features. In this activity, artists use imagination to recreate reality and themselves as spiritual and heterotopic entities. Artists capture the presence of images as reflected in their artworks.
Artists capture and convert the presence of images reflected in their artworks. The art literature mentions Zeuxis and Parrhasius of Ephesus betting on who was the better artist.
Zeuxis painted grapes in such a realistic way that birds thought they were honest and tried to peck them. The painting by Parrhasius was covered with a veil. Thinking that he won the bet, Zeuxis wonders about the image and tries to lift the veil. However, it is impossible because Parrhasius only painted the cover, whereas Zeuxis boasted of fooling birds with his painting. However, Parrhasius tricked the painter, that is, the human.
Zeuxis' commentary on his painting explains the views of those who advocate that art should reflect objects, people, the world, and everything we see as it is. This shows that mimesis, which sees the painting as a mirror pointing to the world, was also widespread in ancient Greece.
In dissemblance resemblance, what is present in the images does not imply imitation but offers a similarity claim by tracing. Based on this claim, artists made representational paintings focused on capturing the world in images from the fifth century to the nineteenth century. However, Magritte's philosophy questions the relationship between images and language.
René Magritte's series Betrayal of Images forces the audience to reflect on it. The picture showing a pipe image is a representation; it is not an actual pipe. The idea is only an accurate representation.
Magritte's famous This Is Not a Pipe painting questioned the principle of resemblance and unfolded contemporary approaches. The pipe representation on canvas with the work "This Is Not a Pipe" has brought it to reality, but it was clearly stated that this is a pictorial representation because it is on canvas. Thus, the audience is invited to think about this dilemma.
Based on this example, we realize how essential the conceptual meanings of images are necessary to make sense of our world. With this work, the principle of representation-similarity and perception of reality began to be questioned; new and contemporary approaches emerged.
The book title What is Contemporary Art?, edited by Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, and Anton Vidokle, introduced a different dimension to the definition of art. The word "Contempo" refers to a process and highlights different periods in which artistic forms of expression are shaped. (Aranda,2010:17)
Boris Groys, a professor of aesthetics and art history, argues in his article titled "Comrades of Time" that being contemporary does not necessarily mean being here and now. Still, it also means being "with time" rather than "being in time." Focusing on the German term "zeitgenössisch" for "contemporary" in English, Groys states that "genoise" means "comrade," and therefore, argues that the term contemporary (zeitgenössisch) should be understood as being a "comrade of time." Regarding the "comrade of time," contemporary means cooperating with the past (Groys, 2009:4).
To look at the self from without, works of art answer such questions as "Who am I?," "What am I?," "What am I doing?," and "How am I doing it?" Artists are researchers who observe phenomena that make our world meaningful and understandable and reflect on those questions. Therefore, their works of art result from ongoing research and interpretation. When artists look at their works, they associate them with what is universal. They observe themselves in the world at which they look. Works of art are self-practice that witness ongoing research.
Self is the relationship that one establishes with one's self. The relationship between the imaginary and reality is established through works of art. In other words, works of art are research objects used in researching and interpreting reality. Works of art are where artists hide their inner worlds. Works of art are self-objects that allow artists to develop an epistemic, ethical, and aesthetic existence.