Form, Matter, Creativity

One Philosopher for whom the Artistic experience entails both Form and Matter is Dewey. On his analysis, the physical public substance of an artwork, e. g. a painting, a musical score, a book, etc., is its Matter, while the manner in which an individual, the Artist as much as an audience, personally experiences it is its Form. On Dewey's account, the experience is a dynamic, progressive interplay of Form and Matter, culminating in the integrated personal assimilation of the substance, with 'Beauty' usually referring to an hypostatization of the terminal point of the process. However, one Artform that seems recalcitrant to Dewey's analysis is Dance, the Matter of which, one's bodily movement, is as personal as its Form, i. e. its manner of movement. Presumably, Dewey could argue that Dance is a personal manner of experiencing Music, but he might have more difficulty explaining how that 'Form' becomes 'Matter' to a Dance audience. In contrast, in Formaterialism, every Individual Experience is a combination of the Material Principle, e. g. locomotility, and the Formal Principle, e. g. the guidance of locomotility by attentive consciousness. Accordingly, the guidance of bodily movement in its interaction with paint and a paintbrush, a musical instrument, a page of words, etc. are only special cases of Individual Experience. Furthermore, what an Artwork essentially expresses is this Form-Matter interplay itself, otherwise known as 'Creativity', or, in Formaterialism, as 'Evolvement'. And, the manner in which this expression is effectively experienced is further Creativity, to one degree or another. A stimulated imagination, a perception of 'Beauty', the motivation to further public artistry, are all manners of Creativity in an Aesthetic experience, often progressively so.