Art is not an imitation of nature. To understand what it is, and how it is related to nature, we must give some account of the psychological distinction between the active and the imaginative life. In both we are conscious of a world of objects, but it is only in the former that we are obliged to, or in fact can, do anything about them. In this realm the things of which we are aware contain a promise or a threat, they are the signals of events to come, which we are under compulsion to prevent or promote. To this function as signal or guide, however, many of the qualities of things are irrelevant. If the letters on a signboard directing us to our destination are clear, we need not inquire about the board's shape, size, age, or material. These features we overlook; and so in general the world of practice is an abridged and abstracted world. In the life of imagination, however, there are no practical exigencies, and we are at liberty to contemplate objects in their concrete fulness. To embody in permanent form the world thus contemplated for its own sake is the purpose of art.
Similarly, actual objects occasion emotions, but the intensity and urgency of these emotions prevent us from giving them detailed attention. We speak of being "overwhelmed with astonishment," "stunned with grief." In imaginative life emotions are called forth in a weaker form and because of our condition of relative composure and self-possession they may be viewed clearly and consciously exploited. Such deliberately evoked and studied emotion, along with the full presentation of the object arousing it, furnishes the content of a work of art, and represents the consummation of the imaginative life. That the determining factor in the release of imagination is the absence of practical activity is shown by the fact that children, in whom the practical motive has not yet developed, tend to draw objects, not from nature, but in harmony with their fancy, their story-telling impulses.
Such being the purpose of a work of art, the qualities for the accomplishment of that purpose are unity and variety. Unity, to give the maximum of clarity in presentation; variety, to secure the maximum of stimulation. Since, however, objects in nature may have these qualities, the work of art must possess also the evidence of purpose, must show the feelings, the intention, of a conscious contriver, the artist. The sense of understanding or affinity thereby established between the observer and the artist is an essential part of the aesthetic experience.
