Processuality and matt er of art. Diff erent ways of visual artwork creation and its functioning: from the traditional one to anti-art and action art

Abstract

Purpose of research. The purpose of the study is the analysis of the creation and
functioning of art as a continuing process, a quality that is intrinsic to it. Art can be
perceived visually as well as with other senses both in the process and through the
material outcome. An att empt at its reinterpretation, illustrated with selected works of
contemporary Polish and foreign artists, will be presented.
Methodology. The dissonance between modern and traditional art lies, among
other things, in the variety of, both, the techniques applied and the ways of conveying
the message of the work. Art provides the artist with room for freedom which manifests
itself in a free choice of artistic means: Teresa Murak celebrates the miracle of living
by using natural materials; for Anna Goebel every material she uses tells its own
unique story and so the artist considers it to be a medium of creating her own reality,
whereas Yves Klein used to say that his paintings were only the ashes of his art, as what is
most important is the experience and creation process, including the passage of time.
Such a belief comes from the fact that everything art relates to, each creation as well as
reception process – all this takes place in a context.

Results. Today every sign of artistic activity - from painting, in the traditional sense
of the concept, to the “action”, experimental imprints of the human body, objects,
plants, ephemeral art and spatial forms as environments, installation – can be considered
a work of art. Art in process expresses not so much the temporary nature of the
artwork formation, , as the necessity - essential for its existence - of being in a state of
permanent execution by the author.
Conclusions. In contemporary art, it is possible observe a re-evaluation of the stages
that infl uence the creation of the artwork. Examples of art in the text show a diff erent
approach to the art in the process and the form and manner of use of the medium.
They prove the lack of discrepancies between essence and existence of human and
matt er that takes on the form of the individual personality.