Perceptual relativity in Danto and Gombrich relation with audience with King Kong - Essay Example

Perceptual Relativity in Relation with Audience’s Reception of the Film ‘King Kong’ The present in the world of art is very different from past ical art world. In today’s artistic world, the ‘present’ is often seen as being unstable. This is because some aspect of art is always changing in different parts of the world in which we live in. The circumstances in which King Kong was produced are very different from those in today’s film world. Although there are many things that have changed in the film world since King Kong was filmed, one thing has never changed.

This is the development of the artistic technology in film making. There are many innovations that were used in the production of King Kong. Many of these innovations were way ahead of their time and maybe that is the reason the film received so many negative reviews. Today’s reviews of the film are far much better because the audience is able to perceive and appreciate the artistic elements used. According to Danto’s End of Art, art does not exist anymore in the perpetual sense that it used to.

The perpetual relativity argument used by Danto states that modern art follows the concept of visual knowledge that exists in the modern world. He says that the End of Art means the beginning of modern or pop art. This is to say that present art is more concerned with the concept of visual language or knowledge. The King Kong Film in 1933 and Duchamp’s readymade can somehow compare with this modern art concept. When they were released, both King Kong and Readymade received a lot of criticism from audiences.

However, that is not the case today; perceptual ideas have changed over time changing the way people see the film King Kong. The concept of Perceptual relativity is dealt with in an in-depth manner in Gombrich’s Art and Illusion. Gombrich asked himself why artists normally turn a blind eye to aesthetic of sight, conceptual theory and other aspects of modern art. When Gombrich answered these questions, he showed that the perceptual side of art brings out the different points of view. He gives the example of light and darkness variation and how these variations relate with the artwork and audiences.

The amount of light used in some form of art has the power to create a different feeling depending on how it is used. In the King Kong film, lighting has been used make some powerful shots which have an effect on how the audience perceives the film. Maybe the audience in 1933 was not affected by the lighting used in the film the same way today’s audience is affected. Perceptual concept shows that art inspires people differently. The art world today is diverse and undergoes development over a time as people begin to understand the artistic elements of the piece of art.

This is the case with King Kong and Danto’s Duchamp. King Kong got its worst ratings during the time it was released. However, some eight decades later, many people are singing its praises. This is what happens when perceptual relativity changes. The conceptual form of art has taken precedence over the perceptual form, helping people understand more of art than they would have done in 1933. Work CitedGombrich, Earnest. “Truth and The Stereotype”, from: Art and illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. Web. 3 July, 2010.