Art creation is fundamentally about forming something new from existing components within a particular medium.
According to the provided definition, the creation of a work of art is the bringing about of a new combination of elements in the medium. This means that the elements themselves already existed, but the act of creation involves combining them in a way that hasn't been done before. It is the re-formation of these pre-existing materials into a novel expression.
Understanding the Process
At its core, art creation isn't about pulling something from nothing. Instead, it's a process of arranging, shaping, and combining existing elements. Think of the artist as a re-former, taking raw ingredients and assembling them into a unique work.
Elements and Mediums
Different art forms use different elements and mediums:
- Music: The elements are tones and sounds, the medium is typically air vibrations or digital signals. Creation involves combining tones in new sequences, harmonies, and rhythms.
- Literature: The elements are words, letters, and grammar, the medium is language (written or spoken). Creation involves combining words into sentences, paragraphs, and narratives in new ways to convey meaning or evoke emotion.
- Painting: The elements are pigments (paints), lines, shapes, and colors, the medium is typically canvas, wood, or paper. Creation involves applying and combining paints and other elements onto a surface to form images.
In each case, the fundamental principle holds true: the constituent parts were already there, but the artist's creativity lies in the new combination they forge.
Re-formation of Materials
The definition emphasizes that creation is the re-formation of these pre-existing materials. This highlights the transformative aspect of art creation. The artist doesn't invent tones or words or colors; they take these established materials and give them a new form and purpose through their unique arrangement and expression.
This re-formation can be simple or complex, subtle or dramatic, but the result is a work that is distinct from the raw materials or previous combinations of those materials.
