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21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 2. Art as Form

[form is the essence of works of art]

9 ideas
Beauty involves the Forms of order, symmetry and limit, which can be handled mathematically [Aristotle]
Beauty is an order between parts, and in relation to the whole [Baumgarten, by Tolstoy]
Art needs a mixture of order and variety in its sensations [Fry]
Only artists can discern significant form; other people must look to art to find it [Bell,C, by Gardner]
Maybe significant form gives us a feeling for ultimate reality [Bell,C]
Significant form is the essence of art, which I believe expresses an emotion about reality [Bell,C]
'Form' is visual relations, and it is 'significant' if it moves us aesthetically; art needs both [Bell,C, by Feagin]
If beauty needs organisation, then totally simple things can't be beautiful [Wollheim]
Formalists say aesthetics concerns types of beauty, or unity, complexity and intensity [Gaut]