The relationship between art and reality has been bothering philosophers since the times of ancient Greece. Ideas are real, while reality is the 'imitation of reality', the shadow of the idea. Art is also the imitation of reality, the shadow of reality, thus art is the imitation of imitation, the shadow of shadow, and there is a distance between art and reality. Only through philosophy could we get to ideas and get closer to reality.
Aristotle has observed that by distinguishing the world into the accidental real world and the inevitable possible world, the latter becomes more real than the former. Though art doesn't play a strong role in describing the accidental real world, it has its priorities in implying the inevitable possible world, thus art stands out more real than history. The real could be re-expressed, described, narrated; it is the region of the creation of art. It is emphasised that only by means of non-real or non-true art, could we express the reality; it has discovered the deep relation between art and reality. Actually, the most real personality is the inner self that we are all trying to escape from, not the ego or superego which has been disguised and recognised.
In a word, the question of reality is confusing. What seems real is not real, what seems to be not real turns out to be real. In Marx's words, the crucial point is, there is dissimilation in real life. Since the dissimilated reality is not real, we could only search for reality in surreal or non-real art. Aristotle has said, "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality".
There is the type of art society most commonly subjects itself to on a television and more often than not it has some sort of gratuitous theme or other extravagance that people desire to watch. Two main problems, especially in Plato's eyes, are at the root of the problem with popular art. First, the fact that the imitation of whatever is being displayed mistakenly can be damaging. Second, the vulgarity and general crudeness of popular art or popular entertainment is also damaging. However, these two so-called problems with popular art are rather minuscule and can actually help the general people enjoy everyday life.
There is a belief held by some that too much exposure to the representations of reality we encounter could influence us to make poor judgements because we blur the line, for example between TV and reality. While in some extreme cases this may be true, some philosophers make popular art out to be one more peril that man has to conquer. Popular entertainment is also dismissed due to its frequent use of various forms of vulgarity, which can vary in degree. Classically, some form of vulgarity displayed in art has always been popular. When the reaction from the crowd seems to be of a crude nature, some tend to think of this as simple-minded pleasure. We find such an attitude in Greek tragedies.
Again, if someone paints in the way of researching, he cannot transform the feeling from his heart and cannot enter the bottom of unconsciousness of his personality; and then his works won't be touching. Realistic painting only touches the surface of reality, while abstract expressionism tries to touch the depth behind reality. Darby Bannard said, "Art is not truth. Truth conforms to reality. Art invents reality".
To conclude, artists are usually those who can think outside the box --- outside the box of what is determined by a group consciousness as being real. Because if an artist didn't believe in what his mind was projecting, his/her art wouldn't be real and would be non-existent. Art is simply a different view of "reality/perception" in an individual's mind that is actualised in the physical world. Just as the roots are as much of the tree as the tree is of its roots, art and 'reality' is but one.
The writer is with Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka.
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