Structure in Art

Structure can be thought of here as a formula, pattern or similar idea that these words produce in the context of art. The Hero’s Journey, for example, is a good example of structure in narrative.

The tendency for structure in art is but a recognition of what audiences find pleasing. Composition in graphical pieces are extensions of math and pattern, music relies ubiquitously on fractions in both tone and tempo and written works may follow rhythmic patterns in its language or, more fundamentally, specific clusters of language by which the writer carves an idea. To all but the artistically revolutionary, the content of the art has no relevance if the structure which upholds it doesn’t take form. For this reason, at least in the postmodern era, a truly novel thinker new to the artistic process will try with all their power to dispel this structure whilst retaining art.

This is not the way. The wisdom that artists learn through creation and thus maturation is not that structure is required (whilst it is), but that it isn’t the basis of existing art. Even if the structure (that which has the ability to satisfy without engagement) may seem more fundamental. The artist learns that there can’t be a delineation between artist and audience, an audience must agree with the art structurally. Good art allows the audience to have a meaningful experience without critical rumination from the audience, not push them through something structurally unenjoyable. This isn’t to say the artist shouldn’t allow thought to be a valuable experience – this truly depends on the art – but that gratification is not an enemy of art.

The structure: the rhyme scheme of a poem, or a sequence of explosions in an action movie, is reinvented by the artist. A true artist may disagree with creating art off of structure, so the answer they find may be a reaction against structure itself. The eventual revelation from this is that art creates structure. The communication of emotion forms structure. Creativity in a medium allows for the most beautiful and fractal-like spread of pattern. Seemingly structureless art has not been expressly calculated but rather formed with creativity, an ability which creates near-incomprehensible forms that art upholds. Compare this to simply creating art from a structure. It is to not create art at all. (Not that anyone but the artist has the authority to define the art empirically. )

Put simply: Art creates a structure, not the other way around.