Intentionality

The other day in class we spoke of intentionality’s role in the art world and how much weight it carries. I offered my opinion that intention only goes so far as to give the artist or creator of the art a vessel to know what they are creating and to market it as art. Someone challenged me that you cannot or should not look for approval from the outside world to know you are creating a work of art. They said that appreciation from the art world cannot be the only reference a person uses to know they have created art. It got me thinking about standards in not only the art world but every aspect of our daily lives. The only reason we believe something is beautiful art is because we see it in a museum or someone of significance tells us it is a great piece of artwork. Now that is not to say that when we see a painting, we do not think it is beautiful and wonderful on a personal level. It is to say that we only look at art as remarkable art when it is in a museum or art gallery or has garnered enough attention to be in a place like that. Masterpieces are not masterpieces until someone has said they are and they are put on display as such. We are creatures that follow and look at the actions of others and the social norms and mirror ourselves after them. Art is no different. When you intentionally create a piece of work, by definition, this means you know what you are doing. With this knowledge, you can market it or present them as such. This is as far intentionality gets you. This is where the standards, the many many standards of our modern society come in. We wait to see if our artwork or the artwork of others is good enough to be “great”, whatever that means. This might seem unfair or I guess you could say extremely conformist but if you really think about it, it is not. If there were no standards, would anyone know if anything was good or bad? Also, what would our world look like if we based our worth and merit in the art world on solely intention? How inclusive is intentionality?