How complex does a work need to be to be deemed as art ?

1- Why are we defining complexity?

A definition of 8 lines to define art has been provided on this page:

https://flarne.com/en/a-sentence-of-8-lines-to-define-art

It is essentially saying that art is the expression of a complex concept.

But that definition does not define complexity in a statement that would help determine whether or not a given work is complex enough to be deemed as art.

2-General characteristics of the word “Complexity”:

In the art definition recounted on point 1, it is indicated that a concept being a mesh of style and substance, what makes its expression complex can only be in 3 ways: stylistically complex, thematically complex, or both.

The complexity we are trying to define is that of art, induced by an analysis of the work presented. Art is an expression, a process of exteriorizing something. The final something is the work of art.

We want to make sure that this final work is the result of a complex process to be carried out by the average adult. Moreover, we evaluate complexity for the average adult and not for the artist, because subjective complexity implies "simple" in far too many instances. Furthermore, the term "subjective complexity" makes the existence of the word "complexity" completely useless.

3- Thematic Complexity

How to prove that a thematic exploration is complex?

A thematic exploration is a set of philosophical knowledge, therefore about life. Who would find that knowledge about human life that is known and especially approved by most people to be complex? No one would.

Thus, the degree of complexity of a thematic exploration is assessed by how much said exploration is likely to change, for the long term the intellectual knowledge or stance of the average adult on that subject at the date of publication of the piece.

Thematic explorations are complex when, if properly conveyed, they are likely to significantly edit, transform, shape, modify the position of the initial stance or knowledge upon a given topic of the average adult at the moment of release of that piece.

We are instinctively aware of the initial stance or knowledge of the average adult upon a given topic because we, 21st century people, live in a highly connected world (thanks to the Internet).

We can tell the average adult is acquainted to what we mean by kissing; and we can also tell, the average adult is not acquainted to what we mean by Big Data.

But this only concerns our period in time.

Maybe in the future, the term ‘big data’ will become as basic social cues, as the term ‘kissing’ is.

This is not us theorizing. This is a phenomenon that actually happens.

People in the 17th century (i.e: René Descartes in his book “Discours de la méthode”) did not know that animals have intellectual capacities. They fervently all believed animals to be illogical beings because they could not speak human language.

But now, in the 21st century, the knowledge of the average adult on this topic, (that animals are illogical beings or not), is common sense to all.

This topic became basic social cues. Proving that animals have intellectual capacities would’ve been a complex aim back in the 17th century; but in the 21st Century, it is considerably less significant.

Because the initial stances or knowledge upon that given topic of the average adult at the moment of expression of that opinion are different.

Persisting in assessing the degree of complexity of a thematic exploration from the lens’ of your stance and knowledge to that theme during your current time period is inherently wrong.

A thematic exploration is complex enough -hence, legitimable to validate the categorization of a work as art -when you conceive yourself living during the time period in which the piece was released, with the same beliefs as them, and imagining if the artist’s expression would have effectively affected you.

Not the current you, but the historical “you”.

4-Styllistic Complexity (Excluding Abstract Art)

This entire section does not take into account Abstract art for reasons that will be stated a bit later in the post.

-What is stylistic complexity?

A stylistically complex piece is an artwork in which the conventional substance is not complex (I.e: think of a painter drawing a cat smiling. The (conventional) substance is a cat smiling and that’s not a concept difficult to imagine for the average adult).

We say conventional substance, because in certain artworks, the substance that the artist is trying to convey is the style itself. (i.e: think of a writer creating a story where the characters are promoting an artistic movement, say –minimalistic style and its benefits on art -, and so, the very way the story would be written (that is, its style), would be an inextricable part of the substance the writer is seeking to communicate).

The term conventional substance allow us to remove the style from the substance we are alluding to, even when the style is a part of the substance.

-Proving stylistic complexity in an artwork:

The existence of stylistic complexity is proved in the same manner for every existing medium.

We only need the work presented to validate a prerequisite and a test-question.

Prerequisite question: Is the work expressing an aspect connected to the human experience?

Test-question: Can the degree of immersion into said aspect of the human experience, that has been attained by that work, be properly reached by the average adult on the first try?

If not, then the final product is complex as a consequence because, if an objective can be properly realized by anyone on the first try, it would be seen as simple to realize.

In the case of a drawing for example, erasing a drawing, even slightly so, and trying again, is already a second attempt.

Since there are too many people that are beginners in all existing mediums, we will take the safest option of accuracy and assume the following:

The average adult is a beginner in every medium.

An example with dancing.

Dancing: Proving the stylistic complexity of a dancing performance

Prerequisite: Is the performance expressing an aspect connected to the human experience?

In this case, the aspect connected to the human experience are specific body movements conveying miscellaneous feelings and impressions that can be recalled in us, involuntarily, by another performance through familiar apprehension of those feelings and impressions.

It’s important to specify that, although the feelings evoked are difficult to pin down with words, we can still apprehend them again through involuntary remembrance provoked by witnessing another performance; and know it is that same family of feelings and impresisons when they arrive; or on the other hand, know, it is not them.

Test-question: Can the degree of immersion into said aspect of the human experience, that has been attained by that work, be properly reached by the average adult on the first try?

In general, we can be quickly aware with our intuitive knowledge of reality if attaining this degree of immersion in those aspects of the human experience, on the first try, sounds too difficult for a beginner on that medium.

Proof:

If a piece validates the prerequisite question, that means the piece is expressing an aspect that can be connected to the human experience; and so, the average adult can always encounter in his life the aspect that has been expressed in the piece.

The test-question requires that we have an idea of how beginners operate in the medium concerned.

And since, mediums (drawing, acting, singing, instruments playing, cooking, writing, etc) are widely popular (and the less popular mediums make a strong use from the most popular ones), the average adult is someone that has at least been through the beginner phase in every medium.

Hence, the test-question is also accessible to any adult trying to prove the stylistic complexity of a work.

In conclusion,

Because both the prerequisite and the test-question are accessible to the average adult, any adult trying to imagine a beginner doing a given artistic performance doesn’t require much imaginative power before mentally coming across the first difficulties that are likely to be encountered when attempting to reach similar degree of immersion of that aspect connected to the human experience (because of the prerequisite’s accessibility) for a beginner in that specific medium (because of the test-question’s accessibility).

In the case of a dancing performance, whose aspect connected to human experience that has been expressed were: “specific body movements conveying miscellaneous feelings and impressions.”, we have the following.

Prerequisite: Is the performance expressing an aspect connected to the human experience?

The pre-requisite question is validated since I can see body movements everywhere in my life; and since any feelings and impressions that I am conscious of in my everyday life, can always be recalled to my consciousness by involuntary remembrance.

Test-question: Can the degree of immersion into said aspect of the human experience, that has been attained by that work, be properly reached by the average adult on the first try?

In the case of a dance performance, I will focus on the body movements aspect as it is easier to demonstrate in this example (where we are unaware of the feelings evoked):

- Lingering unusual coordination demanded from body parts;

- Multiple unusual sets of body movements,

- Flexibility demanded on unusual body parts, at specific moments, and repeatedly.

Because the average adult are aware of those things, as he, himself has, at some point in his life, tried dancing, he can tell, having been a beginner himself, whether or not those would be difficult for a beginner to realize on the first try.

Useful tips: Since, among the aspects connected to the human experience, there is always a sensorially apprehendable content (in this case, body movements), we can prove stylistic complexity simply by focusing on the beginner’s ability to reproduce them.

This is how you prove the stylistic complexity of a work. And validates it as art.

5- About AI art:

If I can press on a button and a beautiful drawing magically appear, I wouldn’t be an artist, but the result would be art because the historical effort to come up with that image, with the materials used by the initial artist(s), would be stylistically complex for the average person. So AI art, is art.

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6- The case for abstract Art:

How can the average adult assess technical proficiency in every abstract artwork ? We cannot. As you may have noticed, abstract art, by its very nature, its definition, does not validate the Prerequisite Question.

Unlike any other art forms, there are no metric we can repeatedly apply to assess the complexity of execution of every abstract art... due to its absolute detachment from reality references.

And so, there is no repeatable, discernable element from abstract art in general, that can universally make an adult assess what is complex and what is not from a given abstract art piece.

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But, apart from abstract art, every piece of art (in the sense of the definition seen in point 1 – “Personal Art”) is objectively complex (that is, complex in the eyes of the average adult). Either thematically, or stylistically, or both.

The three forms of art:

1- Styllistically complex (SC Art) + Thematically Simple – that is a lot of musicians, and painters.

2- Thematically complex (TC Art: which leads to stylistically complex as a consequence) –like a teacher of physics. a lot of writers.

3- Styllistically complex + Thematically complex (TC Art again)- the rarer types. Those are artworks whose complex themes could be simple and they would still be categorized as art. (because their stylistic complexity would still exist)

We were only concerned with personal art, throughout our analyses. Here is an idea caricaturing the proportion of art present in the world if we include mainstream art.

If all existing art represents 100%,

-Personal Art is about: 3%

-Mainstream Art is about: 97%.

Within personal art,

-TC Art : 1%

-SC Art: 99% (which may contain some abstract art)

Within Mainstream Art,

-There is mostly SC art: about 99.98+%, - some of which is abstract or not.

-There is art that is not complex to realize at all (like a banana taped on a wall). This would not be categorized as art in the definition seen on point 1, but because reality deems it as art, it is art.

Final word: There exists no TC Art in Mainstream Art.