Image: Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter

We all know beauty when we see it. Or do we? In the past, beauty was associated with a kind of formal perfection which was often referred to as "classical beauty". Beauty could be judged by mathematical proportions, such as those found in the Golden Ratio. Definitions of beauty have changed over the centuries to the point where things don't have to be geometrically correct or structurally sound to be beautiful. For example, in today's context, something that is on the verge of falling apart, might be considered to have beauty because of its ethereal quality and delicate fragility, as can be seen in the Cornelia Parker installation made of components of a blown up shed (image on left).

The current exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt museum, called Beauty, plays with this expanded idea of what constitutes "beauty" in the 21st century. The exhibition is organized around seven themes: extravagant, intricate, ethereal, transgressive, emergent, elemental, and transformative. Of course it is impossible to divide a concept as complex as beauty into seven categories, as Guardian writer Jonathan Jones discusses in his review of the show, but I do think giving this a try makes a fascinating premise for a design exhibition.

Broadcaster Matthew Collins, attempts to define the question "What is beauty", by categorizing (with corresponding images) the 10 qualities that make art beautiful: nature, simplicity, unity, transformation, surroundings, animation, pattern, surprise, selection and spontaneity. Here is a link to Collins' one-hour BBC production: What is Beauty?  While there is probably consensus that all of the images Collins has selected are representative of beauty, one wonders about the images and objects that might fall outside of these "10 qualities". Beauty is often a taboo word in the world of contemporary art as it is sometimes associated with shallow and less complex forms of work, so many artists go out of their way to make their work non-beautiful. But perhaps in doing so, they are just opening up the definition of what makes something beautiful.

We have come a far distance from the sentiments of the Romantic poet, John Keats, who ends his poem "Ode to a Grecian Urn" with the following declaration:

Wendy Welch

Executive Director
Vancouver Island School of Art

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support the many art-related activities offered by Vancouver Island School of Art including this newsletter, art courses, workshops, artist talks and exhibitions.

Registered Charity # 86392 1433 RR0001