A Critique of Functionalist Definitions of Art Cover Image

Krytyka funkcjonalistycznej definicji sztuki
A Critique of Functionalist Definitions of Art

Author(s): Simon Fokt
Subject(s): Visual Arts, Aesthetics, Sociology of the arts, business, education, Sociology of Art
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: art; artwork; functionalism; critique; contemporary art;

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the issue of definition of art and artwork in the sense of functionalist approach. It critically argues with the existing terms and meanings of artwork in that sense and presents them as insufficient and inadequate when speaking of modern art. Furthermore functionalism assumes that a great deal of artworks has a specific function, what we cannot say about a large number of contemporary artistic endeavors. Therefore it is being argued here that this approach, how popular it might have been in the past, must be replaced with a new paradigm of comprehension of esthetics.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 27-46
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: English