In my opinion, Heidegger is one of the most broad thinking philosophers in the curriculum second only to Kant. Heidegger thinks of art as not only an object, but an experience shared between the observer and that what is being observed. A piece of art is not defined only by its material make up but by the experience an observer has. This experience reveals truth about being in that it provides an example of the sum of a culture's progress to the point the artwork was produced. An observer can effectively look into that culture and partially understand it through their experience of that art.
My favorite element of Heidegger's is that he distinguishes art from other objects produced. He says that an object proclaims its purpose or function whereas art, on the other hand, proclaims its existence. Art exists! Its beautiful! Job done! A hammer, on the other hand, is not really worth anything until it is used. Maybe a hammer functions "beautifully," but a piece of art IS beautiful as it is.
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