Some thoughts on the aesthetics of Schopenhauer - Jacob Hamilton

 In a previous post, I suggested the artist does not seek to duplicate an object in his work, but to capture a relationship between him and an object. A good artist is able to capture the layers of sentimentality that exist between him and the object. This view may appear and may be to some extent at odds with the aesthetics of Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer held that the artist’s job is to capture what lies beyond the particularities and capture the Universal. Still, I think there may be a reconciliation between the two views.   

Part of what makes quality art is that it captures something not overly particular to the artist’s experience. This is to say that artist’s work is not something only he can relate to, but something that is universally relatable. In this way, the artist is meant to capture an ideal relationality. For example, an artist may try and capture the sentiments he feels around his childhood home. While this relationship is particular to the artist, it is universally relatable. While most do not share the artist’s relationship to his home, one still can relate in the sense that most have an analogous relationship to their childhood home. It is in this way that the artist’s work is universal. The artist captures a relationship particular to him. Yet in doing so, he is able to capture something universal.