Redefining Art as an Experience

Art is present in nearly every aspect of our lives. The concept of art, however, is not easy to define. When discussing the subject of art, one must consider experience, art, and the aesthetic. These three concepts complement each other, but are difficult to distinguish. As a result, meaningful and coherent discussions about art are difficult to achieve. I believe that in order to discuss what good art, meaningful art, fine art, and useful art are, one must first have a clear understanding of what art is. In this thesis I attempt to build a foundation for meaningful discussion about art. I utilize John Dewey\u27s concept of an experience, and Arthur Schopenhauer\u27s subject object distinction in order to define and distinguish between art, experience, and the aesthetic. I explore how these three concepts come together in order to compose the artistic process. Finally, I apply the conclusions to an exploration of the bossa nova movement in order to illustrate the validity of these conclusions