What is art and how does it work? These questions are the subject of Art Inside and Out. Art has an important and universal status in human cultures. Yet particularly in light of new movements and styles that developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, it is difficult to say exactly what art is. The book starts with an exploration of the definition of art, looking at what we generally consider to be art, its characteristics, and its functions, and then attempts to define art in terms of its significance for human existence and purpose. This is followed by a similar analysis of the concept of beauty.
The remainder of the book addresses the question of "how" art works. Art is generally thought to be expressive of human concerns and emotionally affecting. Yet the media of art are largely sensory in nature. Art consists of the same qualities that construct our experience of the outer world. The question is how these "objective" products of the senses can have meaning for the inner human subject. While classical art is largely representative and thus carries the meaning associated with its subject matter, the manner in which the formal elements are employed also has a great influence of the effectiveness of a painting. In the case of abstract art, the formal elements carry all the expressive weight. The same question arises even more so with respect to music, which for the most part is not directly representational at all. Yet although music is merely a succession of sounds with varying qualities, it is highly emotionally affecting. What is the relation between the inner psyche and the world of the senses? The book explores these issues in detail for five art forms: The visual arts, music, dance, literature, and the theatrical arts.
