Definitions HQ

The Work of art's (n.) origin ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is that which makes it what it truly is.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a sign or even a symbol. Instead it presents its own unique and ultimately inexplicable mode of being, something for the reader, beholder or listener to dwell within and not merely something to de-code.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not just something that comes into the open, next to other things, it changes the Open in which it appears.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠resistant to theoretical understanding because it has more the mode of existence of a kind of action or of practice than of a static object.

A Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always working itself out for the artist, responding to an emergent vision – an insightful love poem follows, not creates, the nature of love.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always opening to the artist a new aspect which the work is beginning to project, and the artist follows that disclosure.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠non-human insofar as the artist’s role is a matter of responding to, gathering, or harnessing the force in the emergent work.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠non-human. The artist may only nach-sprechen, ‘speak after’ a sound out latent in language itself.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠guided by a theory of creation not by a creator, but from out of ‘nothing’ - if nothing is understood literally as no-thing or the mere not of that which is.

A Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not absorbed completely in its function. It insists on presencing as something in itself. In this regard, ‘the work of art is similar rather to the mere thing which has taken shape by itself and is self-contained.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠so constructed that it does not just a set up [aufstellt] a world but also sets forth [herstellt] the earth.

The Work of art's (n.) truth ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is always offset by the depth and resistance of its ‘earth’ quality, as opposed to the way it projects a ‘world’.

The Work of art's (n.) own ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠peculiar reality is brought to bear only where the work is preserved in the truth that happens by the work itself.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠likely not possible in the modern epoch, for the world-disclosing potential of art is stifled in the modern epoch, with its appropriation of art as a form of merely subjective experience, as an object for museums or for school and university study.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠notable for its singularity. In its resistant, ‘self-sufficient presence’ it is not reducible to what a reader already understands; It brings into existence something new that needs to be understood only in its own terms.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a disclosure of a truth that can never be proved or derived from what went before. What went before is refuted in its exclusive reality by the work.

The Work of art (n.) belongs, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as work, uniquely within the realm that is opened up by itself.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not just to be seen as an expression of the views and values of its author, or of its time, but as engaging still with the question of truth.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a site where the truth of beings has set itself to work.

The Work of art (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠able to transport us out of the realm of the ordinary, to make us truly notice the Being of beings, instead of taking it for granted.