- Question
What is the purpose of abstract art?
What is abstract art for? This entry sets out the positions on its purpose — that it lets the artist perceive beyond the tangible world, and that it represents an emancipation of the mind from representation.
Position 1 of 2
Read this position →Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible
This position holds that the purpose of abstract art is perceptual discovery: by giving up resemblance the artist can work on what no depiction can show, such as relation, rhythm, interval and the behaviour of colour and form themselves.
Position 2 of 2
Read this position →Abstract art is the emancipation of the mind
This position holds that abstract art exists to free artist and viewer from the duty of representation: with nothing to identify, the work cannot dictate what it means, and the encounter becomes an exercise of the viewer's own mind.