According to A. .P. Chekhov. On Holy Week, the Laptevs were at the art school at the art exhibition ... The problem of perception of art
(1) On Holy Week, the Laptevs were at the painting school at an art exhibition.
(2) Laptev knew the names of everyone famous artists and did not miss a single exhibition. (3) Sometimes in the summer at the dacha he himself painted landscapes with paints, and it seemed to him that he had a wonderful taste and that if he had studied, then a good artist would probably have come out of him. (4) At home he had paintings of ever larger sizes, but bad ones; the good ones are badly hanged. (Z) It happened more than once that he paid dearly for things that later turned out to be a crude fake. (6) And it is remarkable that, timid in general in life, he was extremely bold and self-confident at art exhibitions. (7) Why?
(8) Yulia Sergeevna looked at the pictures, like a husband, through a fist or through binoculars and was surprised that the people in the pictures were as alive, and the trees as real; but she did not understand, it seemed to her that there were many identical paintings at the exhibition and that the whole purpose of art was precisely that in the paintings, when you look at them with your fist, people and objects stand out as if they were real.
(9) - This is Shishkin's forest, - her husband explained to her. (10) - He always writes the same thing ... (11) But pay attention: such purple snow never happens ... (12) But this boy left hand shorter right.
(13) When everyone was tired and Laptev went to look for Kostya to go home, Yulia stopped in front of a small landscape and looked at him indifferently. (14) In the foreground is a river, behind it a log bridge, on the other side a path disappearing in dark grass, a field, then on the right a piece of forest, near it a fire: they must be guarding the night. (15) And in the distance the evening dawn burns out.
(1b) Julia imagined how she herself was walking along the bridge, then along the path, farther and farther, and all around it was quiet, sleepy jerks were screaming, a fire was flashing in the distance. (17) And for some reason, it suddenly seemed to her that these same clouds that stretched across the red part of the sky, and the forest, and the field she had seen for a long time and many times, she felt lonely, and she wanted to go and go along the path ; and where there was an evening dawn, a reflection of something unearthly, eternal rested.
(18) - How well written! she said, surprised that the picture suddenly became clear to her. (19) - Look, Alyosha! (20) Do you notice how quiet it is here?
(21) She tried to explain why she liked this landscape so much, but neither her husband nor Kostya understood her. (22) She kept looking at the landscape with a sad smile, and the fact that others did not find anything special in it worried her. (23) Then she again began to walk around the halls and examine the paintings, she wanted to understand them, and it no longer seemed to her that there were many identical paintings in the exhibition. (24) When she, having returned home, for the first time in her life, drew attention to the large picture hanging in the hall above the piano, she felt enmity towards her and said:
(25) - Hunt to have such pictures!
(26) And after that, golden cornices, Venetian mirrors with flowers and paintings like the one that hung over the piano, as well as the reasoning of her husband and Kostya about art, aroused in her a feeling of boredom, annoyance and sometimes even hatred.
(According to A.P. Chekhov)
Text Information
Composition
Have you noticed that it happens that one picture leaves you indifferent, and in front of another you freeze in reverent silence, some kind of melody sounds without hurting your feelings at all, and another makes you sad or happy. Why is this happening? How does a person perceive art? Why do some people plunge into the world created by the artist, while others remain deaf to the world of beauty? An excerpt from A.P. Chekhov's story "Three Years" made me think about the problem of perception of art.
A.P. Chekhov tells how the Laptev family visits an art exhibition. The head knows the names of all famous artists, does not miss a single exhibition, sometimes he paints landscapes himself. His wife at the beginning of the passage "looked at the pictures like a husband", it seemed to her that the purpose of art was to "stand out people and objects as if they were real." The husband notices only the negative in the pictures: either “such purple snow never happens”, or the painted boy’s left arm is shorter than his right. And only once, the true essence of art was revealed to Yulia Sergeevna. In front of her was an ordinary landscape with a river, a log bridge, a path, a forest and a fire, but suddenly she saw that “where there was an evening dawn, a reflection of something unearthly, eternal” rested. For a moment, the true purpose of art was revealed to her: to awaken in us special feelings, thoughts, experiences.
A.P. Chekhov is one of those writers who does not give us ready-made solutions, he makes us look for them. So I, reflecting on the passage, understood, as it seems to me, his position on the problem of the purpose of art, its perception. Art can tell a lot to a sensitive person, makes him think about the most mysterious and intimate, awakens in him better feelings.
I agree with this interpretation of the impact of art on a person. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to visit large museums, at classical music concerts, so I will allow myself to refer to the opinion of writers, because there are many works in which the authors try to unravel the mystery of human perception of art.
One of the chapters of the book by D. S. Likhachev “Letters about the good and the beautiful” is called “Understanding Art”. In it, the author speaks about the great role of art in human life, that art is “amazing magic”. In his opinion, art plays a great role in the life of all mankind. Likhachev argues that one must learn to understand art. Awarded with the gift of understanding art, a person becomes morally better, and therefore happier, because rewarded through art with the gift of a good understanding of the world, the people around him, the past and the distant, a person is more easily friends with other people, with other cultures, with other nationalities, he easier to live.
A. I. Kuprin writes about how art can influence the human soul in The Garnet Bracelet. Princess Vera Sheina, returning after saying goodbye to Zheltkov, who committed suicide, so as not to disturb the one she loved so much, asks her pianist friend to play something for her, not doubting that she will hear that Beethoven
a work that Zheltkov bequeathed to her to listen to. She listens to music and feels that her soul rejoices. She thought that a great love passed by her, which is repeated only once in a thousand years, words were composed in her mind, and they coincided in her thoughts with music. "Hallowed be your name, the music seemed to tell her. The amazing melody seemed to obey her grief, but it also consoled her, as Zheltkov would have consoled her.
Yes, the power of true art is great, the power of its influence. It can influence the soul of a person, ennobles it, elevates thoughts.
More arguments.
In a short story by V.P. Astafiev “A far and near fairy tale”, it tells about how music is born, what effect it can have on a person. As a little boy, the narrator heard the violin. The violinist played Oginsky's composition, and this music shocked the young listener. The violinist told him how the melody was born. The composer Oginsky wrote it, saying goodbye to his homeland, he managed to convey his sadness in sounds, and now she awakens the best feelings in people. The composer himself is gone, the violinist died, who gave the listener wonderful moments of comprehending beauty, a boy grew up ... Once at the front, he heard the sounds of an organ. The same music sounded, the same Oginsky polonaise, but in childhood it caused tears, shock, and now the melody sounded like an ancient battle cry, called somewhere, forced to do something so that the fires of war would go out, so that people would not huddle against the burning ruins so that they come into their house, under the roof, to their relatives and loved ones, so that the sky, our eternal sky, does not throw up explosions and does not burn with hellish fire.
K. G. Paustovsky narrates in the story “Basket with Fir Cones” about the composer Grieg and his chance meeting with the little girl Dagny. The sweet little girl surprised Grieg with her spontaneity. “I will give you one thing,” the composer promises the girl, “but it will be in ten years.” These ten years have passed, Dagny grew up and one day at a concert symphonic music heard her name. Great composer he kept his word: he dedicated a musical play to the girl, which became famous. After the concert, Dagny, shocked by the music, exclaims: “Listen, life, I love you.” And here last words story: "... her life will not be in vain."
6. Gogol "Portrait". The artist Chartkov in his youth had a good talent, but he wanted to get everything from life at once. Once he gets a portrait of an old man with surprisingly lively and terrible eyes. He has a dream in which he finds 1000 gold coins. The next day, this dream comes true. But the money did not bring happiness to the artist: he bought himself a name by giving a bribe to the publisher, began to paint portraits of the powerful, but he had nothing left of the spark of talent. Another artist, his friend, gave everything to art, he is constantly learning. He lives in Italy for a long time, standing idle for hours at the paintings of great artists, trying to comprehend the secret of creativity. The picture of this artist, seen by Chartkov at the exhibition, is beautiful, it shocked Chartkov. He tries to paint real pictures, but his talent is wasted. Now he is buying up masterpieces of painting and destroying them in a fit of madness. And only death stops this destructive madness.
According to I. Bunin. Based on the book's story. Lying on the threshing floor in the oven, I read for a long time ... On the purpose of art
(1) Lying on the threshing floor in the omet, I read for a long time - and suddenly I was outraged. (2) I’ve been reading again since early morning, again with a book in my hands! (3) And so from day to day, from childhood! (4) He lived half his life in some kind of non-existent world, among people who had never been, invented, worried about their destinies, their joys and sorrows, as if they were his own, connecting himself to the grave with Abraham and Isaac, with the Pelasgians and Etruscans, with Socrates and Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Dante, Gretchen and Chatsky, Sobakevich and Ophelia, Pechorin and Natasha Rostova! (5) And how now to sort out among the real and fictional satellites of my earthly existence? (6) How to separate them, how to determine the degree of their influence on me?
(7) I read, lived by other people's inventions, and the field, the estate, the village, the men, horses, flies, bumblebees, birds, clouds - everything lived on its own, real life. (8) And so I suddenly felt it and woke up from a book obsession, threw the book into the straw and with surprise and joy, with some new eyes I look around, I see sharply, I hear, I smell - most importantly, I feel something unusually simple and at the same time unusually complex, that deep, wonderful, inexpressible thing that exists in life and in myself and which is never written properly in books.
(9) While I was reading, changes were secretly going on in nature. (10) It was sunny, festive; now everything is dark, quiet. (11) Little by little clouds and clouds gathered in the sky, in some places, especially to the south, they are still bright, beautiful, and to the west, behind the village, behind its vines, rainy, bluish, boring. (12) Warm, softly smells of distant field rain. (13) One oriole sings in the garden.
(14) A peasant returns from the graveyard along a dry purple road that runs between the threshing floor and the garden. (15) On the shoulder is a white iron shovel with blue black soil adhering to it. (16) The face is rejuvenated, clear. (17) The hat is off the sweaty forehead.
(18) - I planted a jasmine bush on my girl! he says cheerfully. - Good health. (19) Do you read everything, do you invent all the books?
(20) He is happy. (21) What? (22) Only by what lives in the world, that is, does something the most incomprehensible in the world.
(23) The oriole sings in the garden. (24) Everything else is quiet, silent, even roosters are not heard. (25) She sings alone - slowly brings out playful trills. (26) Why, for whom? (27) Is it for yourself, for the life that the garden, the estate has been living for a hundred years? (28) Or maybe this estate lives for her flute singing?
(29) "I planted a jasmine bush on my girl." (30) Does the girl know about this? (31) It seems to the man that he knows, and maybe he is right. (32) A man will forget about this bush by evening - for whom will he bloom? (33) But it will bloom, and it will seem that not without reason, but for someone and for something.
(34) "You read everything, you invent all the books." (35) Why invent? (36) Why heroines and heroes? (37) Why a novel, a story, with a plot and a denouement? (38) The eternal fear of seeming insufficiently bookish, not similar enough to those that are glorified! (39) And eternal torment - to remain forever silent, not to talk about exactly what is truly yours and the only real one that requires the most legitimate expression, that is, a trace, embodiment and preservation, at least in a word!
Composition
What an amazing story from A.P. Chekhov! As always with this writer, you will not immediately understand what he wanted to say with his work, what questions he suggests thinking about.
Summer day. The lyrical hero reads a book, which he suddenly throws away with indignation: “He lived half his life in some non-existent world, among people who had never been, invented, worried about their fates, their joys and sorrows, as if they were his own ...” It seems to him that he woke up from a book obsession and with new eyes looks at "the deep, wonderful, inexpressible things in life." Around the wonderful nature, constantly changing landscape. A new face appears: a man with a clear, rejuvenated face. “I planted a jasmine bush on my girl,” he says. We understand that he planted this bush on the grave of his daughter. So why rejoice? We are perplexed along with the hero. And then an understanding comes: the girl will not know about this bush, but it will bloom “for good reason, but for someone and for something.” And again a return to the old thoughts: why write novels, stories? And here comes the insight: the problem that so worries both the hero of Chekhov and the writer himself is the problem of the purpose of art. Why does a person need to express himself in books, in poetry, in music, in a picture? This is how I would formulate the question arising from the reflections of the lyrical hero.
And the answer to it is in the last sentence of the text: “And eternal torment is to remain forever silent, not to talk about what is truly yours and the only present that requires the most legal expression, that is, a trace, embodiment and preservation, even in a word! » The author's position, if it is expressed in other words, is as follows: the purpose of creativity, the purpose of art is to tell people what excites you, to express the feelings that you experience, to leave a "trace of incarnation" on earth.
The question of the purpose of art worried many writers. Let's remember
A. S. Pushkin. In the poem "Prophet" "God's voice" appealed to the poet:
“Arise, prophet, and see, and listen,
Fulfill my will
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn people's hearts with the verb."
“To burn the hearts of people with the verb” means to awaken thirst in them a better life, fight. And in the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands ...”, written shortly before his death, the poet affirms the greatness of a poetic monument in comparison with other ways to perpetuate merit.
A person to whom God has given the talent to say something of his own to people cannot be silent. His soul demands to leave a mark on the earth, to embody and preserve his “I” in a word, in a sound, in a picture, in a sculpture…
2. Perception of works of art as co-creation. The phenomenon of catharsis
The problem of perception of works of art is multifaceted and requires an interdisciplinary approach for its comprehensive consideration. Its analysis within the framework of aesthetics is usually carried out on the basis of a wide involvement and assimilation of knowledge from psychology, sociology, philosophy, semiotics, cultural studies, history and theory of art, etc.
Meanwhile, the aesthetic analysis of perception is not reduced to particulars and is not a mechanical sum of one-sided characteristics taken from different areas of knowledge. The interest of aesthetics in this problem stems from its very subject - the process of aesthetic assimilation of reality by a person.
Obviously, perception in this process is an important link, channel and mechanism for us to comprehend the aesthetic properties of the surrounding world and its transformation according to the laws of beauty.
Aesthetic perception is based on the human ability to respond to beauty, to recognize it in reality, formed in the process of phylo- and ontogenesis. As already noted, aesthetically a person perceives any objects - natural, public, including art. In this regard, in theory and practice, the ability of aesthetic perception is distinguished as a holistic and figurative vision of reality, as well as artistic perception proper, as the same ability, aimed at comprehending the aesthetic value of works of art.
In aesthetic theory, the problem artistic perception entered a long time ago. One of the first attempts to solve it can be considered the teaching of Aristotle about catharsis - the purification of the human soul in the process of perceiving art.
It should be noted that in the aesthetics of the 20th century, the act of perception is interpreted mainly as a purely spiritual one, not aimed at any act. K. S. Stanislavsky also noted this feature. People go to the theater for entertainment, he said, but imperceptibly they leave it with awakened feelings and thoughts, enriched with knowledge of the beautiful life of the spirit .... The theater is a powerful force for spiritual influence on crowds of people seeking communication.
In a European-oriented culture, this externally non-pragmatic orientation of artistic perception, its external non-creativity has formed a tradition according to which the creation of works of art has a greater social and aesthetic significance in comparison with their perception by viewers, listeners, readers. In this regard, there is an increased attention to the work of artists, poets, musicians, actors and other creators of works of art, while at the same time low interest in other participants in artistic communication, collectively denoted by the uninformative and impersonal concept of "public".
At the same time, in some cultures of the East, the art of perceiving art is especially valued. In particular, the aesthetics of Zen Buddhism affirms the fundamental equality of the creative activity of the creator and the perceiver. It is believed that in the creative process the ability to see, to create an image in one's soul is no less significant than the very activity of creating works of art. This idea, by the way, is also present in the theory of the Symbolists, who also believe that a work of art exists not only as the end point of deepening the creative personality of the creator, but must necessarily be an impetus for the life of those who perceive it, who carry out spiritual ascent. A similar attitude was also expressed by M. Bakhtin, noting that if the main thing for an artist is the “product of creativity” separated from him, that is, a work of art, then for the viewer, listener, reader, the main product is himself, his personality. The main specificity of creativity perceiving a work of art lies precisely in the fact that in the process of perception, its development is carried out, there is a formation, a creation of a person in a special way inherent in art. This approach, reflected in a number of works by Russian authors (A. A. Potebnya, D. N. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskii, A. Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, A. Leontiev, M. Bakhtin, and others), actually helped form and approve traditions in our aesthetic consider the perception of art as co-creation.
We have already noted that a work of art as an object of perception is a combination of the highest level of complexity. And ideally, of course, perception should correspond to this level. Those who are inclined to think that the perceiver (recipient) experiences the impact of a work of art on the principle of some kind of life analogy are hardly right.
Of course, in perception there is a level of direct impressions and experiences. It can be assumed that in some cases perception is limited to simple recognition.
eat and the recipient will experience what Aristotle called "the joy of recognition." Oh, how similar!... However, such perception usually occurs at the level of the external form of a work of art, that is, its plot, figurative concretization of the theme. But there is also an internal form - that very "labyrinth of links" that L. N. Tolstoy spoke about, that is, a system interdependent in each of its elements, which serves to express the author's idea, the "super-task" of a work of art.
Due to their structural and content multidimensionality, genuine works of art require and form the most complex and high forms of human perception in the process of interaction with the public. Turning to a work of art, we perceive not only lines, colors, sounds, images expressed in words, but also what is hidden or contained in them - the thoughts and feelings of the artist, translated into figurative system. How he did it, in what form the content is expressed, what is the "language" of the work does not escape us.
The structure of the human personality in its potential is optimally capable of an integrated, holistic, figurative perception based on the equal development of both principles, on their well-coordinated interconnection. And an artistic image, which, as already noted in the previous chapters, has an integral nature, a person can perceive only by creating this image, recreating it in his soul. By this result, artistic perception, in fact, differs from ordinary perception, which is reduced only to the extraction by the subject of some information about the object. It is absurd even to assume that in the landscapes of, say, I. Shishkin or I. Levitan, there is only one "logic" of natural objects - a timber pine grove, the coast of the Gulf of Finland, the water spaces of the river opening from a high steep, etc., only accurate, naturalistic reproduction ... It is appropriate to recall in this connection the lines from the poem by I. A. Bunin:
No, it's not the landscape that attracts me,
The greedy gaze will not notice the colors,
And what shines in these colors:
Love and joy of being.
To these words of the poet, one can add that the “gaze” of the perceiver reveals not only what causes joyful and bright feelings, but also sadness, sadness and even mental pain. And in order to express all this in a work of art, not only the logic of reality is important, but also the special logic of the artistic structure of the work, the special nature of relations and
element links. In the paintings of the artists mentioned above, “talking” is not only the plot movement, but also the compositional and structural construction, plasticity and relief, color system and light-shadow score, and much more ... It is all these elements presented in the form of an artistic system organized in a certain way, just create a “figurative field” that attracts the viewer like a magnet, causing him an appropriate emotional response and certain reflections. Thanks to them and through them, the effect of the psychological transfer of the viewer to the figurative model of life, presented in the work of art, occurs. For all its illusory nature, artificiality, it has the ability, in the case of a work of enormous artistic power, to evoke in those who perceive that state, about which the poet said: “I will shed tears over the idea.” The life invented by the artist becomes, as it were, our own.
Consequently, in the communication act of perceiving a work of art, it is essential to comprehend the specific language in which it speaks to us. The artist, while still in the process of creating a work, must take this into account. The internal artistic structure of works should be able to form perception at the level of thoughts, ideas, feelings embedded in it. The solution of this problem, in fact, is subject to the selection of the most suitable figurative signs in figurative and expressive means, carried out by the artist in the process of creativity. And in this sense it is rightly said that a true artist always creates according to the laws of human perception.
In the structure of aesthetic perception, at least three communication channels should be distinguished:
1) artistic generalization, that is, the perception of a work of art as an integral phenomenon, at the level of the unity of its forms and content. Perceiving it, we reveal genre originality, style features, and other rather general characteristics of the work, usually expressed in judgments like “This is a comedy” or “This is a realistic work”, etc.;
2) associative potential a work of art, designed for the active connection of the intellectual-sensual energy of the perceiving person. In the process of perception, the figurative model of life presented in a work of art is to some extent compared with the experience of real life, evokes certain associations in viewers, listeners, and readers. Each artist is still in the process of creating a work,
organizing his material, he expects to evoke certain associations in those who perceive. Consequently, both on the part of those who perceive a work of art, and on the part of the creative tasks solved by the artist, perception is an associative act;
3) Finally, in perception it is possible to manifest what is called the suggestive power of art, associated with his ability to suggest, almost hypnotic effect on the perceiver, with his special contagiousness. In its given quality, a genuine work of art is like a "bundle of energy", the magical power of which excites the most complex mental processes in us. L. N. Tolstoy wrote about the “infection” of the perceiver with thoughts, feelings, images presented by the artist in the work.
The very manifestation of this kind of connections in the communicative act of artistic perception sometimes serves as a basis for asserting that it is nothing more than a repetition of the creative process that took place during the creation of the work. At the same time, it is not taken into account that the perceiver always transforms, transforms in his own way what is given in the work by the artist. The image he creates is by no means a copy, not a subjectivized equivalent of a finished work, but something independent, recreated in the mind of the perceiver on the basis of and taking into account his own ideas and experience. Of course, one should always take into account the degree of aesthetic relationship between the author and the perceiver, but as B. Croce rightly noted, “one cannot consider oneself a little artist, a little sculptor, a little musician, a little poet, a little writer” (Croce B. Aesthetics as a science about expression and as general linguistics. - M., 1920. - S. 14).
The viewer, listener, reader, as a rule, presents his own account to the work, often having no idea about the creative torments and experiences of the author in the process of its creation. At the same time, the situation is not excluded at all, that where the author shed tears over his hero, the perceiver may have an ironic smile. Be that as it may, perception is an active creative process, and it is precisely because of this peculiarity that each of us in the imagination recreates the image of “our own” Boris Godunov, “our own” Grigory Melekhov ... The process of internal spiritual construction of images by the perceivers, based on understanding the language of the work, interpreting and evaluating figurative models of life - this is co-creation, a very important component of artistic communication that brings true aesthetic pleasure.
At the same time, with all the activity of individual perception and the breadth of the range of interpretations of the same work by different subjects, one cannot deny the presence in it objective content. As M. S. Kagan rightly notes, “an approach to this complex problem requires the identification in artistic perception of the dialectic of objective and subjective, invariant and variant-interpretative, absolute and relative” (Kagan M. S. Lectures on Marxist-Leninist aesthetics. - L ., 1971.- S. 507). The content of art, for all the conventionality of the visual and expressive means used, is not a pure and solid fiction that has nothing to do with reality. What is depicted in the work must have something to do with reality for the perceiver. Moreover, as history proves artistic culture, there are stable, typical, regular features of perception that are characteristic of each era and each social group.
So, artistic perception is the most complex work of feelings, thoughts, and imagination of the perceiver of art. Naturally, not everyone is equally prepared to carry out such work.
The current level of aesthetic development of people is often such that it does not allow achieving a holistic perception of the work, to carry out the synthesis of its individual parts in a single impression. Moreover, in a number complex types art, with their more or less adequate perception, requires synthesizing in a thousand thousand variants. So, for example, due to the multi-element structure of an opera performance, its perception by an unprepared spectator-listener is especially difficult.
Indeed, in this case, it becomes necessary to synthesize such elements as scenery, light, color, costumes of characters, etc., that is, what characterizes the artistic and visual side of the performance, with elements of the musical series - melodic-rhythmic structure, tonality, timbre, strength and pitch, intonation features and other nuances of musical dramaturgy, without losing attention to the compositional solution of the performance and the manifestation of their creative individuality by the performers, and much more. Synthesizing all this into a holistic image is connected, of course, with the full involvement of all the "mental mechanics" of the viewer-listener and is fundamentally possible with a sufficiently advanced aesthetic development of the perceived personality.
Aesthetically, the naked eye sees the reflection of life in a work of art mainly where it meets with a more or less naturalistic, believable reproduction.
the product of pictures of nature, historical events, actions. Beyond the threshold of perception remains what is hidden behind the pictorial range itself, that is, what requires semantic generalization, penetration into the deep layers of artistic reality. And then the tale of Saltykov-Shchedrin "Konyaga" is interpreted as a work "about horses", and P. Brueghel's painting "The Blind" appears as an ordinary sketch of a group of unfortunate people who, due to their physical illness, find themselves in a very difficult and hopeless situation. Such an aesthetically significant effect of the spiritual ascent of the personality in its contact with truly great works of art, that deep internal shock and purification, of course, in this case does not occur. Consequently, it can be stated that art in its impact on a certain part of the public does not achieve the desired result, remains, as it were, “closed”, unclaimed.
Psychologists, meanwhile, in a cathartic effect see the main result of the impact of art on the individual, and in the need for catharsis - one of the main psychological attitudes towards art. Actually, this corresponds to the tradition in the use of this concept in the meaning of the essence of aesthetic experience, which arose even among the ancient Greek philosophers. In modern interpretations of catharsis, there is no doubt that it is a mechanism through and with the help of which the functions of art are carried out, moreover, not only hedonistic and educational, but also cognitive. Moreover, it is thanks to catharsis that the viewer, listener, reader rises from the knowledge of purely external connections to the comprehension of their meaning, essence. The perceiver's own experiences undergo a kind of rebirth. The artistic system takes possession of his thoughts and feelings, makes him sympathize and contribute, there is a feeling of spiritual uplift and enlightenment.
The power of perceiving art was superbly conveyed by Apollon Grigoriev in a poem dedicated to the great artist Mochalov:
It was time - theater hall
It froze, then moaned,
And a neighbor I don't know
He squeezed my hand convulsively,
And I myself pressed him in response,
In the soul, experiencing torment, which has no name.
The crowd, like a hungry beast, howled,
She cursed, then she loved
Omnipotently ruled over her
Mighty formidable sorcerer.
Indeed, talented works of art give us the opportunity to enter "inside life", to experience its fragments. They actualize and enrich our experience, raising it from a purely individual private level of ideals and perfect forms. Art, according to G. I. Uspensky, acquaints a person “with the feeling of happiness to be a person”, shows us all and pleases “we with a visible opportunity to be beautiful.”
In contrast to the Freudian understanding of catharsis as immersion into the depths of the unconscious, Russian aesthetics presents a different point of view on the nature of this phenomenon. In particular, the position is substantiated, according to which catharsis is the mechanism in the implementation of the functions of art, through which the unconscious turns into the conscious, there is a harmonization of all relations of the individual. This transformation becomes possible due to the inclusion of the perceiver of art in a different, higher value system.
Catharsis in this context appears as awareness, as an extension of the boundaries of individual consciousness to universal. Its psychological nature is expressed by the state of “internal orderliness, spiritual harmony that arises due to the dominance of higher, universal ideals in the human soul” (Florenskaya T. A. Catharsis as awareness // Sat. Artistic creativity. - L., 1982).
The aesthetic ideal lives primarily in art. Being ideologically comprehended, it gives great social significance and power to art. Feelings experienced in the process of perceiving a work of art awaken moral and intellectual aspirations in a person.
Catharsis as a purification of the soul, as an aesthetic pleasure is not identical to simple pleasure, as it is accompanied by a whole range of polar feelings - from joy, admiration and sympathy to grief, contempt and hatred. At the same time, aesthetic pleasure cannot be reduced to any process - be it memory, imagination or contemplation.
The phenomenon of catharsis presents a fusion of emotions and intellect, feelings and thoughts, purely personal and socially significant, external and internal, relevant and historical. And in this capacity, catharsis can be qualified as the highest form of aesthetic development of artistic reality by a person. In an aesthetically developed personality, in his communication with art, the need for catharsis becomes decisive.
LITERATURE
Asmus V.F. Reading as work and creativity // Questions of Literature. - 1961. - No. 2.
Questions of the history and theory of aesthetics. - M., 1975.
Volkova E. A work of art - the subject of aesthetic analysis. - M., 1976.
Vygotsky L. Psychology of art. - M., 1965.
Artistic creativity. - L., 1982.
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One of the main problems that Sergey Lvovich Lvov raises in the text proposed for analysis is the problem of understanding works of art. Undoubtedly this topic can not leave anyone indifferent, because art is an integral part of everyone's life; art is something that gives a person opportunities for personal growth and development, forcing them to move forward, to constantly be in search of something new and interesting.
The author believes that works of art are comprehended by a person who devotes time and effort to this comprehension, pays enough attention. Art willingly and soon reveals itself to a person whose thoughts it occupies, in whom the fire of creativity burns, in whom there is an irresistible thirst for comprehension and knowledge, a craving for the new, the unknown.
So, Sergei Lvovich talks about his student life, about his "high school" comrades. Young people "were seriously engaged in literature, history, languages", attended seminars and lectures, were aware of theatrical novelties, did not miss literary evenings in an effort to learn, to comprehend art in all its manifestations, to seize every opportunity to get new impressions.
This is illustrated by sentences 8-17: the students tried to do as much as possible, each time “making time” for both premieres and evenings. We tried to write ourselves, thus comprehending art directly, becoming a part of it.
The real problem becomes for the author to comprehend the classical musical works: he tried to keep up with his comrades, patiently listening to the sounds of the radiogram, but "he was bored, languished, tormented", not finding in the music that special charm that his friends saw. One day there is a "break" - the author's evening of the young Shostakovich - which turned out to be an impetus for the narrator to understand "serious" music, which later becomes an integral part of his life, even a need, a necessity. Thus, the author comprehends art gradually, step by step, by striving for knowledge and working on himself, giving him strength, time and attention, wanting to join the understanding and joy of his comrades.
Comprehending art, a person begins to think and feel more subtle, as if to touch it. Together with art, he comes to understand the simple, true values: beauty, love, humanity, realizing that art is the same integral part human life like these values. So, main character Kuprin's story Garnet bracelet listens to Beethoven's Appassionata, listens and cries. Music fills her soul with warmth and calmness. Comprehending art, Vera begins to appreciate the great, pure love Zheltkova, realizes how he gave himself to her without a trace, this seemingly imperceptible, small man how he idolized the heroine, how devoted he was to her until the end of his days. Thus, art helps the princess to understand that she is forgiven and free herself from the heaviness in her soul, knowing the true, universal values, one of which is art.
Let the comprehension of works of art sometimes be difficult, let it be gradual, let it require strength, time, thirst for knowledge and boundless interest, art is an inseparable part of human life, one of its most important components that form the mind and soul of a person. Life without art seems gray, meaningless, categorical, because art is the creation of a new, exceptional. So, main character Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" Yevgeny Bazarov completely and completely denied any manifestations of art, creativity. A staunch nihilist, Eugene did not want to comprehend poetry, music, painting, only complaining: how meaningless is art that does not carry practical goals. Bazarov is radical and categorical in his judgments, but in the face of death, having passed the tests of friendship and love, the hero realizes that the world could sparkle with bright colors for him if he had noticed the beautiful earlier, found charm in creation, and not in destruction.
After reading the proposed text, we understand that the main goal of Sergei Lvovich was to convey to the reader the idea that art is more likely to be revealed to those who, first of all, seek to know it themselves, and the desire to understand art is a natural, necessary, universal desire.
There are undeniable truths, but they often lie in vain, not responding in any way to human activity, because of our laziness or ignorance.
One such indisputable truth relates to writing, and especially to the work of prose writers. It lies in the fact that knowledge of all related areas of art - poetry, painting, architecture, sculpture and music - unusually enriches inner world prose and gives special expressiveness to his prose.
Composition
Read many books. But for some reason, some of them were forgotten, lost in consciousness, leaving nothing to either the mind or the heart? Maybe the authors of these works failed to reflect life vividly and truthfully? It is this problem that K. G. Paustovsky posed in his text.
The writer, speaking of those who cannot create a living image, uses such epithets: "The reason for this melancholy ... in his sluggish, fish-eye." Let's pay attention to what capacity this description has: here there is a lack of interest in what is happening around, and emotional coldness, and limited consciousness, and laziness of thought, and spiritual blindness.
This blindness becomes the subject of special reflections of the writer: he notes the absurdity of the appearance of books written "by the blind for the sighted." Paustovsky ends his reasoning with the following thought: “The one who loves them can see people and the earth well.” That is the secret of all success, and the cause of all failures is love or its absence. Only a loving heart is able to perceive the world in all its colors and images.
The author defines his position based on the reasons for the “erased and colorless prose”. Is it a consequence of “death” or is it all about a lack of culture? If there are sprouts of love for the world and people in the soul, and it is still alive, then everything can be corrected: for this you need to learn from real masters - from artists. Paustovsky cites himself as an example: how he learned from a familiar painter to look at everything as if “it must be painted with paints”. In a few words, you can define the writer's opinion as follows: if you want to be a good writer, love the world and learn to see it in colors.
It is impossible not to agree with this, because the most brilliant writers created their immortal creations in this way. Why do we remember how Petrusha Grinev granted a hare sheepskin coat to an oncoming tramp? After all, largely because this notorious sheepskin coat "appeared." He was not thrown carelessly, not served with a generous hand, he just “appeared”, reclining on outstretched arms Savelich, glowing with his snow-white fluffy fur. With what tenderness and tenderness this scene is drawn! And what about the cockroaches, black as prunes, in the crevices of the room occupied by Chichikov? Is it possible to forget about them? And so they toss and turn and move in their minds until you understand: it was not for nothing that Gogol let these cockroaches into the space of his poem. And you will guess: what kind of abomination and muck does not attract us along the path of life, leading us astray.
K. G. Paustovsky, speaking of “foolishly wasted time”, seeks to show us how real works of art are created that can awaken the mind and heart. We cannot waste the precious time allotted to us by fate on creating and reading something that does not contain love for people and for life.
What proportion of free time do people devote to self-education? Hundredth, thousandth? The human mind becomes stale over the years, becomes less receptive to new knowledge. Why is this happening, where does the former activity disappear? Internal baggage is something that is replenished by us throughout our lives, something we "lay out" from the chest with knowledge and take with us, and something remains there "until better times", sits, is forgotten. But why do people always put off going to a museum, gallery, theater? Art. Has it lost its influence? In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was fashionable in the society of the nobility to speak French. Many say that this is one of the most stupid trends. Wait. But it's wonderful to be on the same wavelength with those who strive for personal development. Is not it so? So, let's consider the problems of art in the arguments confirming their presence.
What is real art?
What is art? Are these canvases, majestically flaunting in the gallery, or the immortal "Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi? For someone, art is a bouquet of wild flowers collected with love, it is a modest master who gives his masterpiece not to an auction, but to the one whose heartbeat awakened a genius, allowed the feeling to become the source of something eternal. People think that everything spiritual is subject to knowledge, they read a myriad of books that can make them experts in a special society, in a society where not understanding the depth of Malevich's square is a real crime, a sign of ignorance.
Let's remember famous story Mozart and Salieri. Salieri, "... he disintegrated music like a corpse", but the guiding star illuminated the path of Mozart. Art is subject only to the heart that lives with a dream, love, hope. Fall in love, then you will surely become part of the art called love. The problem is sincerity. The arguments below are proof of that.
What is the crisis of art? The problem of art. Arguments
It seems to some that art today is no longer what it was in the time of Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci. What changed? Time. But the people are the same. And in the Renaissance, the creators were not always understood, not even because the population did not have a high level of literacy, but because the womb of life greedily absorbs feelings, youthful freshness and good beginnings. What about literature? Pushkin. Was his talent worthy of only intrigue, slander and 37 years of life? The problem with art is that it is not appreciated until the creator, who is the embodiment of the gift of heaven, stops breathing. We let fate judge art. Well, here's what we have. The names of composers are alien to hearing, books gather dust on the shelves. By this fact, the problem of art in arguments from literature is most clearly presented.
"How difficult it is to be happy today,
Laugh out loud, out of place;
Do not give in to false feelings
And live without a plan - at random.
To be with the one whose cry is heard for miles,
Enemies try to bypass;
Do not repeat that you are offended by life,
Worthy heart open wide."
Literature is the only kind of art that talks about problems in such a way that you immediately want to fix everything.
The problem of art, arguments from literature... Why do authors so often raise it in their works? Only a creative nature is able to trace the path of the spiritual fall of mankind. Let us take as an argument Hugo's famous novel The Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris". The story was generated by one word "ANA" GKN (c Greek "rock"). It not only symbolizes the doom of the fate of the heroes, but also the cyclic destruction of the inviolable: “This is exactly what has been done with the wonderful churches of the Middle Ages for two hundred years now ... The priest repaints them, the architect scrapes; then the people come and destroy them.” In the same work, the young playwright Pierre Gringoire appears before us. What a low fall was prepared for him at the very beginning of his journey! Lack of recognition, vagrancy. And death seemed to him a way out, but in the end he turned out to be one of the few who expected a happy ending. He thought a lot, dreamed a lot. Soul Tragedy led to public triumph. Its goal is recognition. She turned out to be more realistic than Quasimodo's desire to be with Esmeralda, than Esmeralda's dream of becoming the only one for Phoebus.
Is packaging important in art?
Probably everyone has heard the combination "art form". What is the idea of its meaning? The issue of art itself is ambiguous and requires a special approach. Form is a peculiar state in which an object exists, its material manifestation in environment. Art - how do we feel it? Art is music and literature, it is architecture and painting. This is what we perceive on a special spiritual level. Music - the sound of keys, strings; literature - a book, the smell of which is comparable only to the aroma of freshly baked bread; architecture - the rough surface of the walls, the centuries-old spirit of the time; painting is wrinkles, folds, veins, all the beautiful non-ideal features of the living. All of these are forms of art. Some of them are visual (material), while others are perceived in a special way, and in order to feel them, it is not at all necessary to touch them. Being sensitive is a talent. And then it will not matter at all what frame the Mona Lisa is in, and from what device Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata sounds. The problem of art form and arguments is complex and needs attention.
The problem of the influence of art on man. Arguments
I wonder what is the essence of the problem? Art... It would seem, what impact, besides positive, can it have?! What if the problem is that it has irretrievably lost control of the human mind and is no longer able to make a strong impression?
Let's consider all possible options. As for the negative impact, let us recall such canvases as "The Scream", "Portrait of Maria Lopukhina" and many others. It is not known for what reason such Mystic stories, but it is believed that they can have a negative impact on people who look at the canvases. The injuries inflicted on people who offended the painting by E. Munch, the crippled fate of barren girls who looked at the unfortunate beauty with tragic history, depicted by Borovikovsky shortly before her death. Much more terrible is the fact that nowadays art is soulless. It cannot even awaken a negative emotion. We marvel, admire, but after a minute, or even earlier, we forget what we saw. Indifference and lack of any interest is a real misfortune. We humans are made for something great. Everyone, without exception. The choice is ours: to be the same or not. The problem of art and the arguments are now understood, and from now on everyone will promise himself to live with his heart.
