Theories and philosophies in art and design

Art Theories

Formalism: Emphasises importance of formal elements such as colour, line, and composition rather than context. Believes that art’s value lies purely in its visual aesthetics.
Expressionism: Focuses on the emotional and psychological expression of the artist. Art is seen as a direct expression of the artist’s feelings.
Modernism: Seeks to break away from traditions and create new forms. High importance is given to innovation and originality.
Postmodernism: Challenges modernist ideals and explores the instability of meanings. Combining various art styles and elements is a common feature.
Conceptual Art: Emphasises idea over the aesthetic and material concerns of art-making. The concept or idea behind the work takes precedence.
Feminist Art Theory: Highlights the role of women in art and challenges the male-dominated art history. Often incorporates themes of gender equality and women’s rights.

Philosophies in Art and Design

Aesthetics: A branch of philosophy focused on the nature of beauty and taste in art. Explores questions like ‘What is beauty?’ and ‘What is art?’.
Art for Art’s Sake: Believes that art should be appreciated for its inherent beauty rather than its didactic or utilitarian functions. Rejects the notion of art serving a moral or political message.
Primitivism: Embraces the forms and styles of prehistoric or non-Western cultures. Views such cultures as more genuinely expressive and intuitive.
Psychophysical Aesthetics: Examines the perceptual and emotional relationship between the spectator and the art object. Central to this philosophy is the notion of ‘empathy’.
** symbolism**: Uses symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.
Deconstructionism: Questions or challenges traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth. Asserts that words can only refer to other words, and attempts to demonstrate how statements about text subvert their own meanings.

Leading Art Philosophers

Immanuel Kant: Made significant contributions to aesthetics with his belief that beauty is the product of the viewer’s mind.
Arthur Schopenhauer: Argued that art was a way to go beyond the suffering of the world, describing it as a doorway to the ‘world as will and representation’.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Saw art as a way of a societal expression, capturing the zeitgeist or ‘spirit of the age’.
Theodor Adorno: Believed in art’s potential for societal critique and its role in challenging the status quo.
Jacques Derrida: A central figure in deconstructive theory, he emphasised the inherent instability of texts, including those in art.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Through his phenomenology, explored the role of perception in understanding the world, including art.