The precise nature of any given Aesthetic cannot be neatly codified, strictly enforced, or comprehensively identified. An Aesthetic is akin to a living, breathing organism, with a fluid, often amorphous set of characteristics ebbing and flowing, sometimes colliding against (and occasionally melding with) an alternate Aesthetic. Its dynamism and universality are a part of what make it a valuable presence in the artistic process.

But despite the Aesthetic's slippery malleability, and refusal to be pinned down in any definitive way, the foundational tenets that underlie it can serve as a guiding and organizing principle in the conception and creation of a work of art, and in a spectator's viewing and interpretive strategies.

Why does the artist need a “guiding principle” when creating a work of art? Isn't trusting one's creative instincts enough? Shouldn't the artist simply be allowed to follow her own impulses toward the work's conclusion? And might not the application of a preconceived design scheme inhibit or suffocate the artist's own natural inclinations, or impede the flowering of a more original idea?

And why does an audience need to encounter a work of art through a systemized understanding of creative achievement? Wouldn't an awareness of the details of expectation potentially preempt what might have been a fresh and surprising encounter? Wouldn't it pose the risk of overlooking or dismissing innovative works because they fail to meet a staid set of standards that are not even relevant to this particular experience?

In contemplating these and related questions, it is important to remember that the unbridled freedom of thought, arenas for self-expression, and openness to creative processes with which Art has always been associated is invariably coupled with a demand for structure, organization, and design. And while there might not necessarily be a right or wrong way to imagine or assemble something in an artistic realm, a unifying principle inevitably emerges when we contemplate any great creative work.

Aesthetics, as a concept, often serves—either consciously or unconsciously—as that unifying principle.

Artistic traditions, both Ancient and Modern, while always running the risk of becoming formulaic and predictable, ultimately become institutionalized because, when appropriated and served effectively, they have exhibited the ability to stir our emotions and/ or provoke our intellects with a demonstrable consistency.