Aristotle (384-322BC) wrote,
Art completes what nature cannot bring to finish. The artist gives us knowledge of nature’s unrealized ends.
To complete “nature’s unrealized ends,” Aristotle believed that art must be grounded in mimesis, a reflection of nature as it exists. Art should be fundamentally realistic, despite how the artist colors and amplifies and frames nature to take us to deeper and richer understandings of the human condition.
Can you think of a work of art that you find especially “realistic” in that it captures some aspect of your present life and experience better than you could convey it even should you try? Maybe it’s that one photograph or that one short story or that one film that strikes you as eerily familiar. What was the work and what truth did it amplify for you?
As you consider how to respond in this post, consider also these two questions:
Do you believe the accurate depiction of nature and experience should be foundational for a Christian creating art? Consider what Sporre writes regarding “verisimilitude” in our text in chapter one.
or
Do you believe that it is acceptable to depict nature and experience in non-realistic manners and still portray a Christian worldview? You will want to examine the non-realistic images in chapters one and two in your text.
