Marissa N: Heidegger's True Work of Art

Heidegger’s understanding of aesthetics differs from traditional philosophies. Heidegger believes that the True Work of Art has historical significance and is more than simply aesthetically pleasing. To Heidegger, art is not just a representation of a real world object, it is its own entity. I read quite a bit of Heidegger in my research for this class project in which I applied his philosophy to the street art of Banksy. Banksy’s work is satirical, it asks the audience to search deep for the work’s true meaning, and also asks humanity to look at the world in a different way. Banksy’s work is not traditionally beautiful, it requires more than face value, and fits Heidegger’s philosophy of art.