Life events and artistic events. Outstanding characteristics and common features
Authors: Danylova V.Ye. 
Published: July 2019

In recent decades, within the boundaries of postclassical culture, the concept of “event”, which has long been actively used both in everyday life and in scientific discourse, acquires new meanings and is realized in innovative forms. In this regard, it becomes necessary to highlight an “artistic event” as a cultural creative technology, which is becoming widespread in the development of postclassical culture, and study the role of “special artistic event” in the modern process of functioning of global and local cultures. Objectives. The aim of the article is to conceptualize events in the artistic and empirical reality and identify the conditions of their convergence. Research methodology. The author applies the method of terminological analysis for the insight into the concept of “event” in the empirical and artistic reality. The article provides a detailed application of philosophical and culturological method whereby the event is seen as sociocultural phenomenon; psychoanalytical method for the analysis of the impact of life events on the emotional state of a man; the methods of analysis and synthesis to determine the existence conditions of the events in the empirical and artistic reality; structural and comparative method that has permitted to reveal the basic elements in the structure of an artistic event and its difference from an empirical event. Results. The development trends of artistic practices in the post-classical culture convey the blending of the mundane and the social, cultural plan, the destruction of boundaries between the life and the artistic, the ability to create the events that can be classified both as empirical evidence and as an artistic act. All these properties are included in actionism as a form of modern art. The events that are created within this trend have the character of artistic events: the organization of action, the presence of the author, ideological content, focus on the target audience, publicity. At the same time such an event occurs in the empirical reality of an object (objects) that it is designed to. Such an event affects a human being (society) very seriously, introducing new concepts (ideas, images) into the outlook. These effects can be both positive and negative, aesthetic as well as anti-aesthetic. A classification of events according to the level of subjectivity has been developed, which includes such concepts as “micro-event”, “event”, “special event” and “special artistic event”. In any case, a person that perceives a creative product of actionism experiences life events that affect and sometimes change his mental nature, behaviour, emotional state. The author of such event can be any person who needs and has a desire to introduce the idea into the socio-cultural environment. “Micro-event” is a familiar action to an individual. It develops the course of everyday life and does not require the analysis and the search for interpretations. Micro-events occur as a result of natural changes that are logical in the given circumstances of human actions, which are part of the framework of everyday existence. “Event” is an act, as the result of which a person experiences changes in his/ her internal and external environment. The result of the event is always a change in the internal state, the break up, forming new views, gaining new knowledge. “Special event” is an action organized for the purpose of achieving certain goals through direct influence on the subject’s consciousness. A “special event” always has a specific initiator and a certain level of organization, that is, it cannot happen by chance, even if the subject perceives it in such a way. An individual can be both the author of a “special event” and the subject on which it is directed. In the latter case, it can be said that a “special event” has occurred if there has been an internal process of comprehension and certain indoctrination, characteristic of the “event” in general. That is, the mechanism of human perception of a random natural “event” or deterministic by another individual remains unchanged. “Special artistic event” is an action organized for the purpose of achieving certain goals, through the direct influence on the subject’s consciousness using artistic methods. The purpose of creating a “special artistic event” is to unite groups of people, introduce new ones and maintain the conventional value paradigms during a certain action. That is, a “special artistic event” cannot be organized solely for aesthetic reasons, cannot represent value in and of itself, in the isolation from the information and emotional innate content. “Special artistic events” contain significant creative potential; they can be used as an instrument for developing a dialogue between social and cultural groups, for the creation of united global communities based on common axiological guidelines. Conclusions. The reason for the rapid spread of ideas embodied in “special artistic events” is the principle of an action, based on an emotional rather than rational piece of information. Symbolic, nonverbal elucidation of the ideological component is the most productive tool for influencing and interrelating with broad audiences. Since “special artistic events” are now a powerful, effective tool for advancing ideas and forming values, it is important to use their potential for designing and introducing into the culture of socially significant values and paradigms. Their scope extends to the entire field of culture: the author confirms this fact by considering the most important aspects of socio-cultural life, in which “special artistic events” are realized. The dominant feature that distinguishes a “special event” from a “special artistic event” is the artistic and symbolic component, the presence of which indicates the relation of the latter to artistic reality, at the same time it has synchronous unfolding in the everyday reality. Novelty. An attempt is made at identifying the differences of events in the empirical and artistic reality and considering the aspects of their convergence in terms of the post-classical culture. The practical significance. The obtained results make it possible to establish the basis for further reflection of the concept “event”. The findings in this paper can be used in pedagogical and educational practice while preparing the general and specialized courses in cultural studies, art criticism, directing mass festivals.