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Art in Film: Disturbing Aesthetics.

In Cynthia Freeland’s “But is it art?” she uses simple definitions and complex statements surrounding aesthetics, to answer, and to ask some more questions about what art can be, and can be not, but most importantly, what is it for? According to Freeland, an art critic should “systematically unify and organize a set of observations, specific to basic principles” (1) the problem of simple definitions is that some pieces of art do not follow the basic original canon of some aesthetic and art theories. However, it does not end there, because art could provide us with deep meanings and messages beyond the aesthetic beauty of the piece, it can tell us something about humankind, or even the entire world, and most importantly, how we perceive it. Freeland enforce her analysis in works by Francisco de Goya, when talking about ‘shock value’, and film icons, such as Norman Bates, when talking about ‘monstrous beauty’ discussing Alfred Hitchcock’s work “Psycho”.

Contemporary art has its impulses and advances; artists introduce us to new ways of expression; they show us how they perceive our society and make us reflect on the world. Cynthia Freeland reviews several art theories, introduces problems related to the interpretation and understanding of contemporary art. The theories she discusses changed art as the understanding of beauty. The unaesthetic can become aesthetically pleasing, and a piece of art could be beautiful in its monstrosity. When she talks about the conflict of controversial art, she analyses the works of Francisco de Goya; she clarifies that “It is impossible to see last works of Goya with an aesthetic distance” (25) in the chapter “Blood and Beauty”, therefore she drops the collective question of whether Goya suffered from a sick mind, or perhaps, “sick imagination” (26) or “temporary period of insanity” (26). She barely mentions the context behind the dark paintings. Freeland seems to always focus on the piece more than in anything else, clarifying that context helps us to make a larger perspective. Freeland’s work in analysing other theories of art made her consider Goya as an “ancestor whose images combine beauty with great violence” (28). With that said, it could be concluded that perhaps Freeland may suggest in the analysis that the so-called “shock value” or element of provocation within art does not automatically make it a good or a bad piece, but the fact that it is discussed or that encourages people to talk and deep ideas towards a particular work, is because it is worth it.

Art has its impulse and advances, as a result of new media of art, or new ways of expression. Aristotle defined art as “human activity of conscious production based on knowledge” Cinema is considered as the seventh art, something assigned by Riccioto Canudo in his work “Manifesto of the Seven Arts” published in 1911. This would be the first time that cinema would be defined as such, a concept that will settle and will come our day as synonymous with the big screen. When we watch a movie, we do not visualize a single product, but the union of various elements that are reflected in a work.

Therefore thus, introducing Lars Von Trier latest work, “The House that Jack Built” 2018, a psychological horror art film, was presented in Cannes and received sharp criticism regarding the art conversation that this film proposed; the plot follows Jack, a serial killer, set in the 1970’s and 1980’s in the U.S, state of Washington. There is a subplot in this film regarding the discussion about whether something bloody or grotesque may or may not be a work of art. Something ‘grotesque’ represented as murder.

Freeland talks about dark aesthetics, and art speech in film, taking Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, she implies that Psycho “permanently altered the face of the horror-film monster, turning him into the boy next door” (16) but she also mentions the not-so-moral dilemma that is, inviting the audience to sympathize with him. Without a conclusion (written or given by Freeland) to the sympathy of the audience, this suggests that the act of entering the head of a fictional killer is the result of arduous philosophical work and considering the various elements that the cinema itself reflects. It is something completely applaudable, in this case, applying it to Lars Von Trier, considering that Freeland did not say that Hitchcock has succeeded (and that perhaps it was not Hitchcock’s intention either).

According to certain statements that Freeland made about the works of Francisco de Goya, “…Goya is uplifting a message in all his works but saying instead that human nature is dreadful. A lament can be legitimate message in art, even when delivered with shocking content” (28). Perhaps this statement could suggest that, in fact, Lars Von Trier managed to give a message, regardless of whether he used the provocation element as a resource. Some scenarios may not be positive as the standard ‘beauty’ meaning might deliver, but the beauty within its horror deliver aesthetic emotions; some critics do praise the beautiful and aesthetically pleasing compositions in a grotesque photograph, and elegant stylizations on bloody scenarios. In words by Freeland, “disinterestedness has some small role in approaching difficult art… by enabling us to try harder to look at and understand something that seems very repugnant” (16) by pointing back to “The House that Jack Built” art includes not just works canonical beauty or good morals but also works that are disturbing that contain a negative moral message, it does matter how is interpreted and how it remains for a further discussion.

Art is something that has been discussed since the very beginning. It has been questioned in debate since the first centuries, new forms of expression arrive, and with them, new aesthetic and even moral challenges that are worth discussing.

Some critics said that Lars Von Trier’s film was nothing more than a provocation with an empty message or poor delivery. Looking at his past works, Von Trier has always been a lover of controversy (something similar to some classical painters), and this does not necessarily mean something bad (but neither good). In fact, Von Trier faces this statement in his last film. The house that Jack built does not deliver a single message but several, the third subplot of this movie is nothing more than Von Trier reflecting on none other than Jack, and the house built (which in the movie is a house made of corpses), is the movie itself, being the target of moral speeches, and being aesthetically beautiful in its monstrosity.

In conclusion, art is something that since it is dawn has been controversial, and will continue to be so, for the rest of its existence. It is controversial because it has no limits, no boundaries, no cage or box to fit into. If it had, art would not be art anymore; it would only be a vessel of the grand organism that is society. Nevertheless, because it is limitless, it cannot be stopped until a certain point and be said: that is art and that is not. Like the mind in our bodies, we are tirelessly reaching to understand the unknown, we are continually discovering new things that can reason certain aspects of our daily lives, but also there can be certain aspects that are too complex and beyond the understanding of anyone other than the author of the art. It is why disturbing aesthetics in films cannot be discredited as art. Even if it does not meet the standards of ‘beauty’ of the traditional art, art at its foundation is to portrays a sentiment, a meaning, a message. It is not there to be questioned on its delivery. Art has always been shocking and thought to provoke. And as with anything in this world that is worth saving, it will continue to evolve to new and unknown heights.

#cynthia freeland #lars von trier #mat dillon #uma thurman

Target (1985)

#Target #1985 #Gene Hackman #Mat Dillon

“Dad, it's really creepy, all my friends think you're hot." - Thomas Howell's daughter

#the outsiders #rob lowe #mat dillon #thomas howell #s.e. hinton #tom cruise #1980s

Credits to the owner

#the outsiders #mat dillon #aka #dallas winston

He's merely miscast in a play. He was born in the wrong era, on the wrong side of the river. With the ability to be able to do anything that he wants to do, and finding nothing that he wants to do.

Brothers on Wheels - Stewart Copeland

#rumble fish #francis ford coppola #mickey rourke #mat dillon #motorcycle boy