ABSTRACT
The traditional meanings: more or less abstract ideas - for content, concrete material - for form has given rise to one of the most controversial and long-standing problems of aesthetics. The accepted basis on which this controversy rests is the division of all the elements contained in a work of art into two groups, one group containing all the aesthetically indifferent factors, the other containing all the aesthetically effective factors. ‘Content is essential for the production of concrete form, but the abstract quality of the content does not determine the quality of the artistic form. “Material” includes elements formerly considered part of the content and parts formerly considered formal. “Structure” is a concept including both content and form as they are organised for aesthetic purpose. An effect of grandeur, of sublimity, of romantic abandon is achieved when the form appears powerless to subjugate an apparently infinite content.
