Catharine Abell (University of Oxford): Artworks: Definition, Appreciation and Ontology.

Abstract: Many definitions of art, epistemologies of art appreciation and ontologies of art have difficulty accommodating avant garde and contemporary artworks. My aim in this paper is to show that avant garde and contemporary artworks are in fact no different from traditional artworks in respect of what makes them art, the epistemology of their appreciation, or their ontology. To do this, I will appeal to the neglected notion of an artistic medium. I will develop an account of artistic medium and examine its implications for the definition of art, the epistemology of art appreciation and the ontology of art.