Philosophy of Art

Heidegger Martin Heidegger's The Origin of the Work of Art is no less ambitious a project than an attempt to discern the very source of art. As such, he attempts to investigate where art itself comes from. In this complex work, he looks into the relationship of art, the artist, and truth. Further, he discusses the interpretation of art in terms of a circle of interpretation with many different aspects.

In Heidegger's analysis, the relation of work (interpretation), artist (the interpreter), and art itself (the tradition created in the relation of world and earth) is complex. First published in German as "Der Ursprung der Kunstwerkes," The Origin of the Work of Art is a difficult text that formulates some very complicated and thought-provoking ideas about the role art plays in society, and the nature of art itself, as the title implies.

He argues that art is unique in its ability to reveal the truth or the "unconcealment" of what is hidden. He notes that works of art have a "thingy" character. In his analysis, modern ideas of defining a thing are derived from our everyday use of tools and equipment. For example, the Greek concept of a thing as a substance, or more modern ideas of a thing as matter with form imposed upon it are fundamentally flawed in Heidegger's eyes.

Here, he looks to a work of art to reveal the limitations of this view of a "thing." In his analysis of Van Gough's painting of what seems to be a common pair of boots, he argues that the painting ultimately shows the entire world of a peasant who walks on the earth. Heidegger then delves into the relationship between world and earth as it relates to art, artist and work. His analysis of world is related to the concept of the entire human experience.

Ross notes, "a world is the setting of human existence it is the boundries of our thought." We experience the strife of world and earth through art. Ross notes the "opposition of world and earth is a striving between the revealing character of the world and the concealing nature of earth." Heidegger argues that looking for a thingly structure in work, we see the work as equipment (something with a useful purpose) with artistic quality.

Thus, we fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of art, and that we must look into the origin or the "authentic" nature of art. He notes that the artist is the first to try to recognize truth within art, and that it is this truth that is ultimately the key to art. The artist seeks to find of the work "its pure self-subsistence." The activity of the artist is thus crucial to understanding the origin of art.

Ultimately, art is the "becoming and happening of truth." For Heidegger, "The essence of art would then be this: the truth of beings setting itself to work." Importantly, Heidegger never restricts his conception of art to the modern idea of art as a painting, sculpture, or drawing. Instead, art may be a great number of things: a painting, a song, a poem, or even a building. The term hermeneutic circle is simply another way of describing Heidegger's circle of interpretation in art.

In "The Origin of the Work of Art," Heidegger notes that you cannot fully understand a single part of a work until you understand the whole. Further, he notes that you cannot understand the whole of a work of art until you understand all of the parts of the art. On the surface, Heidegger's circle of interpretation seems tautologous and circular, yet his circle is.