by bum » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:12 am
Art is the creation of thought by the mind as a result of its own self development. The physical outcome of such thought is what is commonly referred to as art. In simpler terms its creativity.
Well that was the most fitting explanation I could give without denying anything reasonably worthy the title of art. Art and paintings are referred to so closely only because paintings are the most known, longest lasting and possibly most documented type of art. Also, along with music and architecture, paintings (or sketches, whatever. I'm using it as a common term) are possibly the only pure form of art, in that they are a single medium unto there own. Film is also its own medium (well, that’s debatable) but uses music had has a heavy reliance on music. Arts such as theft are a completely different subject so I’ll refrain from commenting on them, but if anyone is up for a deep discussion, hit me on aim or msn.
AMV's as an art form are generally hard to justify. But compare them to video games and things start becoming clearer. They both use foreign media (film, music and art) so if perceived only from basic sense its hard to see them as art. The art they create is one which requires the viewer to experience at a deeper level, and theirfor requires effort. With video games that experience is immersion. The viewer (player) must create a grey area in their mind, momentarily removing the black and white separation of games and reality. The experience which results from this (the gameplay) is the art in video games.
With amv's the art is the sync, the "illusion" of a direct connection between the film and the music. Sync isn’t obvious. Like gameplay it takes effort to realise. This effort mainly revolves around acknowledging the individual creative elements of music, and developing a natural sense of fitting action (I'm using that word in a broad sense) with music. New amv'ers are almost always bound to make a dud, simply due to there relatively weak "6th sense" of sync. Similarly, showing an amv to someone with no knowledge of the art will generate a reaction based on the film and music as individual elements, rather than the sync that binds them. Due to its abstract nature it becomes a much more complex art form to achieve, and thus evolved within the creator as a skill.
If your able to accurately critique an amv (subjective I know, but there’s a clear difference between an experienced editors opinion and a noneditor/editor with little experience) then you’ll understand my explanation of the art in amv's. If you don’t then start by working through the notion that nothing exists as something, and go from there.