Imitation of an Imitation – Plato
I enjoy this theory a lot. Essentially he is stating that Art is not as real as the tangible object it is imitating. And that tangible object is not as real as the Form that it is imitating. Although all art may not be an imitation of the tangible, I do feel that ultimately art is an imitation of some type of Form. I would take his theory a step further and state that “good” art is that art which can imitate the “real” the best. This real is the “timeless and unchanging” Form. Therefore, taking his example of a chair, if it were deemed “abstract art,” in reality, that would be closer to the “real Form” than a painting of a chair. This means that true art is once removed from the Form and is therefore the tangible objects of which some people try to imitate in paintings.
A side thought is just that an argument could be made that there is a Form for a painting. For example, if there is a painting of a chair, there could be a Form for the “painting of a chair” that the artist is trying to imitate and replicate through the painting but it is once removed from the true Form.
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