Pure, True and Engaged Art

— Cornelis de Bondt

I make a distinction between three kinds of categories in art: pure, true, and engaged art. The first two categories concern art that is not tied to any particular interest, in contrast to the last category, which is. That interest can involve a political interest, a financial interest, an educational interest, or a religious interest — in most cases, it concerns a legal interest.

Pure art, besides it is being disinterested, it is also subjectwise. It occurs within an action, and if that action results in an excellent work, it leads to an exemplary piece. When this piece ultimately solidifies into an artistic object, it loses its subjectwise nature. An object can never be pure, but still it can be true. Pure art can lead to true art, and conversely, true art can lead to pure art, when the art object becomes part of a disinterested, artistic act.

Engaged art, as I mentioned before, is always tied to an interest. This in itself says nothing about its artistic quality. A pure artistic act can result in a failure, and an engaged artwork can be magnificent. The distinction between pure, true, and engaged aims solely to describe the relationship between the artistic, private aspect and the instrumental, public aspect of the artwork.

This distinction between the three types is important for the potential recognition of the artwork, especially in the case of government subsidies, in order to determine the relationship between the artistic concept and the societal (legal) interest. In current subsidy policies, these matters are intertwined in an unclear manner. This also relates to the inconsistent way in which the artistic judgment is rendered.

— Cornelis de Bondt, Loosduinen, March 17, 2024